And then one day, sooner or later, I will die. Life is an expression of the uniqueness of the creation of God. It begins with His divine thought and ends at the moment of His choosing. Within those moments are the dash. You have seen it on many gravestones. It is that mark between the birth (usually about nine months after their life has begun) until the last breathe and heartbeat of their wonderfully intricate yet frail bodies. Sometimes you may see a gravestone with a beginning date and a dash but no ending date, yet. This indicates what is anticipated. It also shows that the final chapter has not been completed, that the marvelous story contained in the dash is still being determined.
And then one day, sooner or later, I will die. The end will come for all of us. Benjamin Franklin said “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” While taxes maybe disputed, the natural normal an inevitable outcome to our physical life is death. Yet God, who created all and has given life to each of us cannot die. As He is, the one whom Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well is spirit and truth, He cannot die. As a man He did die. Without His death, there is no hope of resurrection into a new and eternal life. Without His resurrection He was just a man who died. Just as we all shall. We too are spiritual beings. They that would know us most deeply, most intimately would know us in spirit. They would know that the spirit never dies. For the spirit is entombed in the body until the body is entombed by death after the life has been lived. The Bible says “this mortal must put on immortality”. That is a pretty tall order for a mere mortal to accomplish. Yet it is our perspective that changes, not our reality. Paul wrote to the Galatian church, “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. “ So I live. Whether I know Him and love Him and accept the gift He gives or not, I live this life I have been given.
And then one day, sooner or later, I will die. There is no Biblical truth or evidence to support the fanciful notion that we were spirit beings waiting in heaven to get out turn to dwell in a physical body. Nor is there any to commend that we are or will become angelic beings. What is certain and true according to the scriptures is that the body will wear out and cease to function in a manner that supports life as we know it. At that moment the spirit is separated from the physical and our eternal destiny, our place in the plan and purpose of God is met. Certainly our physical lives have a purpose and an impact and opportunity to be unique by the choices we make as a spiritual being held within a physical body in a physical world. Just as certainly our spiritual lives will and do glorify the creator of all things. If we have understood and chosen rightly, we shall be forever in His presence worshipping and adoring Him. If we have rejected the truth and ignored the light He has sent to us, we are relegated to eternal existence separated from His love and presence in a place of torment, sorrow and darkness. Until then nothing follows my dash. My life, my choices, my opportunities continue.
And then one day, sooner or later, I will die. As some of my friends and acquaintances have. Some of them I have loved deeply, some I have tolerated and a few I have disdained. They have lived and chosen and marked their days with the impact of their lives. The Bible says the Enoch walked with God and then he was not for God took him. Those who choose to walk with God are taken by God at the end of life into His presence to experience the joy of their Lord. Those who choose to believe in some different reality are not taken by God. They are taken by death and know forever the folly of their rejection. I will join them some day; the ones who have died. I will either join the believers and worshippers of the creator of all things or I will be joined by death unto the fellowship of the damned by the unbelievably ignorant rejection of the One who had the answers I sought.
And then one day, sooner or later, I will die. Not as of this moment, but one day. Until then I seek His purpose and His plan for me. I desire to reject the advice and counsel of a world full of self proclaimed successful people. I do not need to get all I can because I only go around once in this life. I do not need to fit into a mold which defines the me that I am in my spirit solely as the list of physical assets I have accumulated. One day, sooner or later, I will die. Until then I am His, seeking His will, spreading His truth. No success that I achieve, nor failure that I endure shall separate me from His love. I have made my choice. It cannot be unmade. If I am deceived and truly have no part in Him then my fate is certain. And just as certainly, by the promise of His Word, by the testimony of those who have gone on before, by the grace and mercy He proclaimed in coming to pay His high price for the sin I chose to do, by all of this I know I am His and will spend an eternity in His love and presence.
And then one day, sooner or later, you will die. Most people who will read this far will proclaim that they are His. A much smaller group who read this far will wonder what all the fuss is about. And a very few, perhaps you, will understand by the grace of God and the faith He gives to those who will believe, that He is real and this is His truth. Then perhaps by the undeniable love that He pours into you, you will ask Him to forgive your sin against Him and accept that He died in your place so you might live with Him. One day, sooner or later.