HoHum:
Death is just a door to the joy that is awaiting, death is just a shadow into everlasting life, death is often thought of as a very sad occasion, for the child of God it’s just a door to brand new life.
WBTU:
Psalm 90:10, 12: “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away…Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Teach us to number our days, here we are confronted with life’s earthly limit. Seventy or eighty years- or eighteen- who knows how long our days will be? We must all be accountants and mathematicians in the best sense. Like retailers we must frequently take stock in order to see where we are in our earthly life. Everyone of us will come to his last day. We will all die as long as Lord tarries. Hebrews 9:27 says, “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Our time on earth is short. We are asked to number our days- not our weeks, months, years, but our days. We are so prone to forget this numbering and we fail to gain a heart of wisdom.
Thesis: Why should we number our days?
For instances:
1. We should number our days because of the shortness of life.
Life is brief. James 4:14 “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Under normal circumstances we have 70 to 80 years but no guarantee of this. First part of James 4:14 “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” Job 14:1, Job said, "Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.” Job also talks about the swiftness of our days. Job 9:25 “My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.” Job 7:6 Job says, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.” Not many in weaving today but every time the shuttle goes from side to side, this weaves a thread into the cloth. Each day adds another thread to the web of life- and what is our life but a collection of days? One day the garment will be finished and we will be gone. How few and fast our days pass.
2. We should number our days because of the incompleteness of life- Many come to the end with several incomplete projects. Michelangelo completed only 14 of the 44 statues he began. The 30 he did not complete can be seen in a museum in Italy. Among these can be seen a leg, an arm, a head, and the shoulder, but the rest of the body never emerged from the stone. An unfinished painting by Raphael was carried in his funeral procession. Franz Hubert left behind an unfinished symphony. Abraham never lived to see his seed inherit the promised land. David was not permitted to build the Temple. Moses viewed the promised land from a distance but was not permitted to cross Jordan. Starting a new project- are we able to finish it? Never know so need to be wise. Luke 12:15-21: life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he (Jesus) told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” What will happen to our possessions when we die? Ecclesiastes 2:21: “For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This… is meaningless and a great misfortune.”
3. We should number our days because of the uncertainty of life.
Proverbs 27:1: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” When we begin a day there is no guarantee that we will complete it. Death can come suddenly and without warning. I’m told that 5% of deaths today are completely sudden and without warning. It is amazing that in our day people put off talking about death even thought we all know it is coming- 100% mortality rate. Make no preparations and shocked when it happens even though they are well beyond 80 years old. Many live like the farmer who built the bigger barns. No thought of eternal matters. No thought of what will become of my things if I were to die. No thought of family or those who are less fortunate. No thought of hell or heaven. Many minimize the role of faith and God- all faiths deal with death but with no involvement in religion and church, death is not addressed- death is often talked about in worship services- need a minister for the funeral but even moving away from this-
1 Corinthians 15:32-33: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning.”
In a movie called Casualties of War, soldiers during the Vietnam war rape and kill a young Vietnamese woman. Michael J. Fox’s character refused to participate and wants justice to be done. His character says: “Everybody's acting like we can do anything and it don't matter what we do. Maybe we gotta' be extra careful because maybe it matters more than we even know.” Would we want the Lord to find us doing this when he comes back? Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom
So what?:
4 reasons why thinking and talking about death improves life
1. It will make us healthier
“Death awareness” as they call it leads us to start thinking about more than just enjoying the moment. Realizing we will die is an incredible motivator to make our lives healthier and thus more enjoyable in the long run.
One study revealed that, “conscious thoughts of death can spark greater fitness and exercise intentions.” It also proved that thinking about death led participants to reduce their smoking and even ”increase intentions to use sunscreen.” The reasons for this seem pretty clear: when we know we will die, and we’re not pretending we’ll live forever, we understand that time passes, things change, and that we need to prepare for the future as well as make our present more enjoyable. Thinking about death regularly forces us to do just that, and results in our living healthier lives. Proverbs 3:7-8: Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
2. It will make us happier
Okay, so thinking about death makes us healthier, but happier? Healthy makes sense because we can attribute it to fear. But how on earth does thinking about death actually make us happier?
Well, whatever the reason, it’s true. In another study, a researcher asked participants to “write about death or another aversive topic each day for one week.” They were prompted to write answers to emails on these topics for 10 minutes with such questions as: if you’re aware life is short and that you could die sooner than you think, how does it make you feel and how does it impact you in general? Sounds morbid, right? The opposite turned out to be true: according to the researcher his participants, “have been reporting lower levels of depression, increased positive mood, increased self-esteem and increased intrinsic motivation.”
There was no reason given in the study but I imagine it has much to do with allowing our minds to stretch to the point of understanding that the world is bigger than our little problems today. Suddenly, a moment in time that is hard is put in perspective, and we start to think about what really matters in our lives. What is the worst that could happen? I might die. Ok, face that fear. 1 John 4:18: perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. Romans 8:1: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Plug for invitation
3. Enjoy life because death is squared away
Kerri Grote died of brain cancer. A wise person asked her an intriguing question after her second brain surgery that helped to transform her life, “Are you running towards life or running away from death?” Jesus said that he came to give us life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). Running toward life, engaging in life, is a satisfying approach to life because it’s proactive. It’s not waiting to see what life’s going to bring us. It’s taking the time to decide what’s important to us and making a plan to work toward that. It’s not about wishing, hoping, and waiting for what we want, but actively going for it. Yes, make a will (see an attorney) and sign advanced directives (Five Wishes from Aging with Dignity is a good resource). Have to say a word about hospice here: Hospice was organized in the 80's to keep people out of the hospital. Most people hate going to hospitals and if they had their way they would want to die at home. Considering that only 5% will die suddenly many of us will face life limiting illnesses at the end of our days. Hospice brings a doctor, a nurse and aides to the home so do not have to keep going back and forth to the hospital. Now after death is squared away, do something fun, call an old friend, dance in the rain. Procrastination lowers our self esteem and makes us so passive until we are immobilized. Don't want someone to spend their last days hooked up to machines, unable to interact with loved ones, just waiting to die. Fill out Five Wishes and make a plan, be proactive.
4. Die better because have planned for it
Ecclesiastes 7:2: death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. There was a jester in the king’s court who greatly pleased the king with his antics. One day the king gave the jester a stick and said, “If you find a bigger fool than yourself, give this stick to him.” After some time, the king was on his deathbed. The jester was a Christian man and asked the king, “Have you made preparations for eternity?” The king said no. The jester gave the king his stick and said, “You are a bigger fool than I."
