“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”
Hebrews 9:27 NASB

You and I have an appointed day with death. It is inevitable. It can not be escaped. God has appointed a time for all of us to appear before Him. As I get older, I meditate on my death.  The last five years have taught me that the day appointed can be any day, any hour, any minute. I have watched as loved ones, fellow church members and friends departed from this earth. Now, as I am forty-nine years old, one year till I am fifty, I contemplate the day that I will depart this earth and meet my Creator. Do you? 

The Scriptures, both Old and New Testament provide passages of Scripture to remind us of how short our lives are here upon this earth. For example, the Psalmist writes in Chapter 103:15-16:

“As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,

And its place acknowledges it no longer.”

The Apostle Peter also reiterates this in 1 Peter 1:24: “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.The grass withers, And the flower falls off,”. (Isa.40:6-8)  We are like the grass of the field, the leaves on a tree. We bloom for a season and when the winter comes, we fall off and are no more. These passages are reminders for us to remember that this world and all things in are fading, passing by. Not to cling to the world as one day will pass from this life. 

Our Lord teaches a parable that is recorded in Luke 12:16-21 about the rich fool who built bigger barns to keep all that he had made, and that he could comfortably retire without worry, but as the Lord states, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20). 

We tend to focus on this life, gathering as much as we can, albeit, there is nothing wrong with preparing for retirement, but when you place all your faith in the things of this world, you will inevitably lose it all when you die. We see that we live in this world daily where people amass so much and then death comes, and all that they had possessed goes to someone else.  We are reminded in the Psalms that our lives are mere breaths and that our lives here are transient (Psalm 39:4-5). 

No matter our social status in life, rich or poor, we all have an appointed time in which we will depart this earth and stand before the Lord of all creation. What then? How shall we live in this life then? 

Living Coram Deo

What does it mean to live Coram Deo? What does that mean? The latin phrase translates to “in the presence of God”. We are to live with an awareness of God in our lives. Living in light and in the sight of God forms our day to day lives and routines. This means then conducting all of our lives before the sight of God. You can read all about this in R.C. Sproul’s book, Before the Face of God, of which I highly recommend. 

Do we live this life perfectly? By no means. We mess up daily and sin. Believe me, I know, but when you place God first in all that you do, say and think, it shapes you and forms you on your daily life. 

Our Eternal Hope

What is our Anchor in this life as death looms over us? What can expel our fears of death? Yes, I am not dismissing the physical aspect of death as I myself think on such things, but when these thoughts come to mind, I have to shift my thoughts and anchor them in the steadfast promise of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our hope is not like that of the world. It is shallow hope, a hope that may not happen. The Hope that scripture speaks of is a person and His name is Jesus Christ. Listen to the words of the Lord in John 11:25-26. “Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die….” 

This eternal hope produces comfort in believers. I recall many years ago in my church in Tulsa, Oklahoma of a woman, a wife who had cancer. The constant treatments tired her and she was always tired in church when I saw her. 

One night I asked how she was and she simply said, “tired”, but there was also this peace that radiated from her. Her countenance showed that she was ready to meet her Lord. I remember this moment daily in my memory. She went on to eternity a few weeks later. We need not live in fear. We need not live without hope like this world does. Paul remind us in Romans 8:18-25:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

The suffering, the loss, the pain, cannot be compared with what awaits is ahead. This is why our Anchor needs to be rooted in Jesus Christ as the writer of Hebrews states in Hebrews 6:19, “This Hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a Hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,”.  

We need not fear when death comes because He has conquered death (2 Tim.1:10, Romans 6:9). We are frail for sure and the thought of death can make one nervous and full of anxiety, but despite our frailty, He is not. He knows our frame and how we are. Hence, His word, His Holy Spirit comforts us when these times will come. 

There is coming a day when the Lord will wipe away all our tears and make things new. This world, this life is filled with valleys and storms. We live day by day, hour to hour. Yes, we must face death, but we do not face it alone. I close with Revelation 21:3-5, may it comfort your as it comforts me.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

Grace and Peace, 

Stephen J. M.