"Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of may days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.” Psalm 39:4
The ancient Egyptians were wiser than we are. For at every feast there was always one extraordinary guest who sat at the head of the table. This veiled guest ate not, drank not, and spake not. He was a skeleton which they placed at the head of the table to warn them that even in their feasting they should remember there would come an end of life.
Death is the destiny of every man, woman, boy and girl; the living should take this to heart and reflect upon it. Men have been helped to live by being reminded that they must die. Solomon the wisest man who ever lived once said, "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart." Of all things that move men, one of the principal ones is his terror of death.
The Psalmist David once said, “There is but a step between me and death.”
Two simple truths that we need to lay to heart when we consider the step of death of this husband, father, and friend recently took.
Death is a CERTAIN step! "It is appointed unto man once to die," Hebrews declares. Job said, "For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living." Ecclesiastes 9:5 says, "The living know that they shall die." "What man is he that liveth and shall not see death?" (Psalm 89:48). Nothing is more certain in life than the fact of death. Here is a sure step. Everybody enters life by the door of birth and exits life by the door of death. Death cannot be escaped.
A. Death is inevitable!
It is a destiny that nobody but God can cancel or change. Death is not an accident, it is an appointment. DEATH IS AN ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY..... a certainty because of sin. Romans 3:23 “For the wages.....” Solomon reminds us that there is no discharge in the war against death. "There is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean.....there is one event unto all." Death is the end of all men.
None of us can figure out the how, when, or the where we will die. "Boast not thyself of morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”The clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour. B. Death is impartial!
All colors, classes, and climates face death. Death shows no favorites. Death is no respecter of persons, positions, or age. Job says, "The small and great are there," (Job 3:19). Psalm 49:10 says, "wise men die, likewise the fool." Romans 5:12 boldly states “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
Though death is a certain step it can be a CALM step
We are not given a choice about whether to met death, or even when to meet death, only how to meet death. We can meet death by being prepared, and in the adequate preparation death can be a CALM step.
Psalm 23
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Do you know the 23rd Psalm or do you know the shepherd of the 23rd Psalm? KNOWING the Shepherd as your personal Saviour allows the step of death to be a calm step! The calmness in the step is due to the adequate preparations that have been made. It is not enough to own Jesus as a shepherd, or as the shepherd, but do you know Him as your [my] shepherd?
An old man was taken seriously ill and the doctor rushed to his home. He examined him and said, "It’s only right that I tell you that you are dying."
Smiling, the patient said, "Bless you, doctor, don’t let that bother you. Why, that is what I’ve been making preparations for." Knowing Jesus as your shepherd makes all the difference in a happy life, happy death, and a happy eternity!
Paul happily exclaims in the New Testament, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better,”
“Willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
The Bible said about David that he "prepared abundantly before his death." Preparations have to be made before death.
A Philadelphia legal firm sent flowers to an associate in Baltimore upon the opening of a new office building. Through some mix-up, the banner on the flowers read “Deepest Sympathy.” When the florist was told of his mistake, he let out a shriek, and exclaimed, “Then the flowers that went to the church for the funeral said ‘Congratulations on your new location!’”
That’s what death is for a Christian: simply moving to a new location.
Are you prepared to take the step of death? If not, you can, and there is no better time than the present.
Jesus died on the cross for you and I, and He bids us to come to Him so that when the CERTAIN step of death comes it can be a CALM step.
A little girl misquoted Psalm 23 once by saying, “The LORD is my Shepherd. I’ve got all I want.” If you know my shepherd, you have all you want, and all you need.
