Lie #4

I'm afraid I may not do this topic justice.  I could probably write on this for days, but I will attempt to get my thoughts out and move on.  Fabulous post planned for later this week...

On to lie #4:  Death is bad and to be feared.

Those of us who are believers would readily recognize this statement as a lie.  But sometimes even our prayers deceive us.  We pray routinely for the healing of our sick.  Not a bad thing; God indeed hears prayers and has the power to heal.  Jesus wept and showed mercy when visiting the home of a deceased loved one.  If our loved one succumbs to illness, however, does that make us question God's power?  His love? 

The subject of death is fittingly encircled with a sense of loss and dread.  We fear our own death in many ways, and we often take steps to ensure our personal safety.  That need for security may actually separate us from the needy, however.  The parable of the Good Samaritan depicts this quite nicely:  the religious men crossed the street to avoid a victim on the roadside.  Do we avoid interacting with the homeless if they represent a threat?  Even simpler, do we hesitate to speak truth in settings in which we feel insecure?  Fear breeds inaction.  (James 4:17 says that "if anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them."  But that could be a blog all to itself, couldn't it?)  Has our desperate need for security, safety, and possibly approval made us mute and blind? 

1 Thessalonias 4 (one of my favorite passages, and previously quoted in my 'Nostalgia' blog) speaks of the coming of the Lord like this:

13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore encourage each other with these words. 

With eager anticipation, we should be discussing our home in Heaven with one another.  We should remind one another not to hold too tightly to this earth and this fallen world; it is not our home.

Is this really a synopsis of my first two 'Lie' posts?
1.  I will get to see my children grow old. 
2.  I will get to grow old with my spouse.

Death is bad and to be feared.

I don't think so.  I think that once we loosen our grip on the things of this earth, we are more fully enabled to reach for and seek the Divine.  Once I recognize that this world is not my home, then honestly, what do I have to lose?
Not only is my security, but my very life is worth abandoning.  Worry and fear no longer control my words and actions.  If I am willing to speak truth to the point that my very life is endangered, then should I fear chastisement, or being an outcast?

Look up.  The vultures are already circling-- this life is short enough.  Why NOT take a Godly risk that you've been considering? What do you have to lose?  Are you willing to give up that which is temporary or frivolous in order to claim that which is eternal?