The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10(KJV)
From a human standpoint no one is looking forward to the day their body is spent but as the days pass by all they can do is watch their lifetime friends go to their final reward. Some have passed on to eternal life while others have been condemned for their sins. Solomon said all is vanity for everything we accomplish in life seems pointless because we will leave it behind for others to squander. From a human standpoint we have to wonder if what we have leaved behind will be appreciated.
Surely, life is not about leaving all I have accrued to my children who will consume it on non-essential and worthless trinkets. Life is not about the things I have undertaken, but about the relationships built over a life time. While it may seem strange I have built a relationship with a person I have never seen yet love with all my heart.
My life revolves around this relationship with Jesus Christ because he is my life and will always be there for me. Jesus said I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. He created a covenant with me lasting for all eternity when he died as he Lamb of God crucifying my sin on the cross. All my sin has been eradicated, erased from my account. Now I live for him because of what he has done for me.
The thought of death has changed my thoughts to think about what life is all about. What is going to happen after I’m gone and my family is left with the funeral? Still it seems unimportant when I consider the next phase of my life will never end.
I have found out that no one wants to think about death even when the grave is inevitable. We may joke about having one foot in the grave but it is not a joking matter when no one has ever escaped its eventuality. However there is another matter to consider, do we have peace with God?
How can God find fault in you if you do what pleases the Lord? When your life is at stake you will prepare yourself for judgment day before an awesome God. Being at peace with God is extremely important when he has the final word about how you lived. God wants us to choose the abundant life over death in torment. Have we made the right choices to prepare ourselves to meet our maker? Hebrews brings to the knowledge that it was appointed once for man to die then the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
God has not been mute about the issue of death. God has said that our body was made from the dust of earth and after death the body will return to dust. Our body will be buried but the spirit that animates the body will return to God to be judged according to the deeds we did on earth whether good or evil.
As a prudent person I must consider these words as fact and focus on what I am doing. Life becomes a figment of our imagination when we become so absorbed with our own life that we do not realize that nothing was ever created without a purpose. Because of this reason I am forced to ask myself, what is God’s purpose for creating mankind and where do I fit into his overall plans?
God had a reason for creating the heavens and earth and placing hundreds of other people in my life. The answer lies in seeking and knowing God for he is building a kingdom for those who will serve him.
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' Exodus 19:5-6
As a Priest I have an awesome responsibility to serve God and the hundreds of other people in my life. God wants you to know God is not partial and he wants to make priests of any person that desires the abundant life.
Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession. Deuteronomy 14:2
Entering into God’s eternal life begins today and though we leave this world through the shadow of death our life will continue in the heavenly realms where God us the chief administrator. All things normally come to an end and so will the earth. On that day, God will send his angels throughout the world to collect the living and the dead, as mankind will be summoned before the throne of God.
"They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. Malachi 3:17-18
God has put his plan into effect and through his grace he has given us time to choose between life and death. We have the time to seek and search God’s plan to learn what God expects of us. God’s plan demands a higher standard of behavior from those who wants to continue to live. In the future everyone will live under God’s authority. However for those who cannot respect his authority, reject his plan, live as they see fit and defy his commands God has reserved a place of torment for them.
Life can be extremely confusing when it’s your way or the highway. Understanding what life is all about is simplified through a plan supplied by our creator.
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Deuteronomy 30:19-20
God said I will spare those who choose life, just as a man spares who has compassion for a son who serves him. On that day you will see a distinction made between good and evil, concerning those who love God and those who reject God.
September 30, 2013
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