Photo by Hugues de BUYER-MIMEURE
What happens when we die? Who is going to cry for us? Who is going to miss us? Who wants to know how much money you left behind and who is going to get that money?
When we live, who bothers about how we are doing? Who cares about whether we have any needs? Who looks out for us?
In a world so consumed with getting, very few people are concerned about the giving. The old proverb, ‘it is better to give than to receive’, seems to be buried with all those good people who have died before us. When women, married for over 30 years, throw a royal tantrum -demanding their husbands give them Valentine’s Day gifts, doesn’t it make you wonder what our parents and grandparents would be thinking? Surely, they must turn in their graves at the brazenness and self-seeking behaviour of today’s wives and mothers.
When I die, let me die with no fanfare! Dust to dust, ashes to ashes; we all meet the same fate, irrespective of where we were born, how much money we made and how big a circle of friends we have. Read Genesis 3:19 We are placed on this earth for one moment in time and the breath we receive has a timer attached to it that God Almighty knows.
When you die, what will they say at your funeral? Will they fabricate stories to tickle people’s toes? When they have had their full of the ‘feast’ laid before them and mellowed with the drinks provided, then the tongues get loosened and the real stories come out.
A good name is worth far more than rubies. The memories of a noble character is like the fresh scent of the wild flowers on a mountain slope – good, clean and wholesome. Vanity of vanity, all is but vanity when we chase after wealth and riches. It is like chasing after the wind; the wind comes and goes as it pleases and nobody can curb it or catch it. It is all futile, a waste of time and effort. Read Ecclesiastes 1:1-3.
What happens when we die? To be absent from the body is to be present in the spirit. Where will your spirit find its new home? When we die we will all be judged for our works; we will have to give an account for our deeds. We will also reap the rewards of our labour. Read 2 Corinthians 5:51-54 and 1 Corinthians 1:51-54. Death is not the finality when you follow the One who conquered death itself. Read John 3:36. Then only can we confidently say, ‘Oh death, where is your sting, oh grave where is your victory?’ ◊
Linda Pearl
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