One day your heart will give a final pulse, and your lungs empty a final breath. And barring the return of Christ, you will die. The psalmist asked, ‘What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?’ (Psalm 89:48 NKJV). Young and old, good and bad, rich and poor; neither gender is spared; no class is exempt. ‘No one has power over the time of their death’ (Ecclesiastes 8:8 NIV). The geniuses, the rich, the poor – no one outruns or outsmarts it. Julius Caesar died. Elvis died. John Kennedy died. Princess Diana died. We all will die. We won’t escape death. The finest surgeon might enhance your life but can’t eliminate your death. The Hebrew writer was blunt: ‘People are destined to die once’ (Hebrews 9:27 NIV). Exercise all you want. Eat nothing but healthy food, and pop fists full of vitamins. Stay out of the sun, away from alcohol, and off drugs. Do your best to stay alive, and still, you will die. Death seems like such a dead end until we read Jesus’ resurrection story: ‘He is not here; for He is risen, as He said…Go quickly and tell His disciples…He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him…So they went out quickly…to bring His disciples word…Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him’ (Matthew 28:6-17 NKJV). For the redeemed child of God, death is not the end but the beginning of a glorious life in heaven that will have no end.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.