Death
His Way
photo credit: Leap Kye <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/10581663@N08/5883964562″>Matchbox – ’63 Cadillac Hearse</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>
Conversations about death and dying make many people uncomfortable.
Trying to relieve tension, they crack jokes about the afterlife. If unsure about where they will spend eternity, scoffers laugh off the truth about a literal heaven and hell. Living only for today (and what money can buy) the foolish forget you can’t take it with you.
Maybe you’ve heard what was sent with famed Frank Sinatra. I read interesting trivia in urbo.com. Sinatra’s friends tucked rolls of his favorite candy inside his casket. Someone put in dog biscuits for man’s best friend. I found one item very interesting; a roll of dimes was placed inside. Dimes? He made millions.
There was a time when dimes paid a crucial role in Sinatra’s life. His son, Frank Sinatra, Jr. had been abducted and held for ransom. The kidnappers feared phone tapping and said they’d only communicate through pay telephones. Frank Sinatra ran out of change during a conversation and panicked. Fortunately, he was able to get back in contact with the men holding his son.
To make a long story short, Frank Sinatra, Jr. escaped. The kidnappers were nabbed by the police and justice was served. It’s said that Ole’ Blue Eyes carried rolls of coins with him till his death. That explains the send off with rolled coins. So, some might say that he lived and died doing it ‘his way.’
Did he?
“But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content (1 Timothy 6:6-8 NASB).”
Take it to Heart
photo credit: Lars Plougmann <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/75062596@N00/36425009134″>Leonora Christina’s final resting place</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/”>(license)</a>
“A good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;
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 take it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 NKJV).”
It may take a few readings before the scripture passage above sinks in. At first, it just doesn’t seem logical.
The day a person dies is better than the day he is born?
Families rejoice when a baby is born; they mourn when a family member dies.
You find a key phrase in the words ‘For that is the end of all men; and then the living will take it to heart.’
When grieving the loss of loved ones and friends we reflect on our own lives. Are we prepared to die?
If not, it is time to set our house in order.
Have you surrendered your life to Christ Jesus.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16 NKJV).”
In His Image…
I wonder; I mull the subject in question over in my cluttered mind. 
What will my body be like after I die?
(1 Corinthians 15:42-52 KJV).
42 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:42-52 KJV).
God created Adam and Eve in his image; in rebellion, they sinned and tarnished that image. Once more, his children by adoption will bear his image.
Glory to his name!
Death by Strangulation
Death by strangulation is not mere words scribbled on a coroner’s death certificate. There is no easy way for an innocent victim to go out into eternity. To me, death by strangulation is especially morbid. In their younger years, both my daughter and son, knew they gave me the willies when they playfully but their hands around my neck. Though done in fun, choking is a fear I hold.
Consider the Lords’ warning about our concerns and priorities. We are in danger of choking the life from his word. “The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear the message; but the worries about this life and the love for riches choke the message, and they don’t bear fruit (Matthew 13:22 TEV).” The Lord is a fruit inspector. What does he see in my life? Am I bearing the fruit of the Spirit or choking his message of grace?
