The past four weeks have been challenging.  I have attended 3 funerals; two for friends’ moms, and the other, my own mom’s funeral. It has been a time of sorrow.

In addition to sadness and loss, these past few weeks are a stark reminder of mortality; not just mine, but all of ours.  Of course there is a great day coming, the day of Jesus Christ, but it hasn’t happened yet. And if God does not send His Son for another 150 years, then everyone on the planet today, all seven billion of us, are going to die.

Okay, I know that’s not a happy thought, and some might even call it negative or even morbid, but bear with with me.  First of all, it is true.  Secondly, there are places in Scripture where God is very blunt about this topic.

In the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter nine, for example, God tells us outright whether you’re a good person or a bad person, everybody is headed to the grave.  He even goes so far as to say that a living dog is better than a dead lion!  Why would He tell us that?

Well, in that same context, He encourages us to live our lives to the fullest.  He points out very clearly that when we get to the grave, we will do no more work, no praise, no love; we won’t know anything!  It’s over! (Until Christ returns, of course.)

So, He encourages us to live now!  Enjoy the life you have, now!  Do whatever you do with all your might, now!  He tells us all that because when we die, He makes it clear we are not going to be doing anything.

In the 115th psalm we read that no one who is dead praises the Lord. Psalm six says that in the grave there is no remembrance.  No wonder God refers to death in the Scriptures in so many places as “sleep.”

In spite of the recent events filled with sadness and sorrow, which unavoidably reminds us of mortality, the Scriptures not only remind us of Christ’s return, but also to live this life to the fullest.

If Christ’s return is not going to happen for awhile, then guess what? We have awhile to live! Get busy living, whether that means more things off the bucket list, or pursuing goals and dreams, or just living each day the best you can.

God is the author of life.That’s why each morning I am grateful to Him for another day to live. I have His gift of life, again.

I’m alive!

Mike Verdicchio
2015

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