It may seem inadequate that our lives are summed up at the end with a eulogy usually not lasting more than an hour, at best. Yet it is the last chance (our will and testament) to give the folks who knew us the gospel message.
I always pray that when the time comes that I will die well in God’s eyes. But it will be so much more important that those who know me best can tell truthfully, that I lived as a true follower of Christ. In the case of my father-in-law, his life’s testimony was sufficient to bring three people to the saving grace at his funeral.
Many of us reading the Rapture Ready posts are believing and hoping to be one of the truly blessed individuals to escape death altogether. But the reality is we don’t know when Jesus will come for us, and it is more likely that we will suffer the same fate as all who have come before us.
The entropy of our bodies with time will do most of us in while some are taken out early by the ravages of disease or accidental death. Today we have so many other unhappy events to ponder; asteroid impacts, super-storms, volcanoes and a plethora of other possibilities.
The threat of war breaking out at any moment in any particular place in the world looms great and is increasing by the minute. As you read daily that the armies of the world are preparing to once again do battle with each other, they need to be reminded of the costs of their follies: World War I caused 37 million casualties; 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded. World War II estimates 50 to 80 million dead and wounded with twice as many civilian as military suffering casualties.
The last war demonstrated through aerial bombardment of cities with incendiaries that governments turn to destruction of civilian populations to demoralize the public into surrender. Have we forgotten that the last world war was concluded with the instant incineration of several hundred thousand people by nuclear weapons? The Bible clearly outlines that the last battles on this planet will cost billions of lives.
Micah 7:13, 16-17: “And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, on account of the fruit of their deeds. Nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will put their hand on their mouth, their ears will be deaf. They will lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth. To the Lord our God they will come in dread, and they will be afraid before Thee.”
It is my conclusion that it really doesn’t matter about the manner in which you may die and it won’t do you any good to worry about it. Our lives are a vapor and only good for one thing: Establishing the permanent Kingdom of our Lord God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is done first in your own heart and mind by accepting His death on the cross for your admitted sins and turning away from them. Second, by making every effort on your part to see that the rest of the world knows that salvation is for them also. As events may make the remainder of our time on earth even shorter, the urgency of our work becomes greater.
Let your last testament bring as many to the Lord as possible.