Death Is No Picnic

I am sad today, more of my friends are dying, and I don't like it. Last night I went to a memorial service for a guy who suddenly fell over and died.  He was only 60, another close friend is losing his wife to cancer of which they only discovered she had a month or so ago and she is not expected to live beyond the weekend. This year alone I have lost friends, mentors, and parents of friends. It is a never ending process of losing people, and  I don't like it. However, death can be a great promoter of the message of the gospel.  Nothing gives you hope like the gospel of Jesus Christ, in fact it is the only hope we have.  No other world religion can give you the assurance of the empty tomb, and these assuring words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 15:

53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” John Macarthur gives us a good perspective on death and grief. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUmdaX_sqac Death is not a permanent state, it is a transition. From a flesh and blood existance to a world where the bodies never die, and the environment is either paradise, or it is punishment. This is the reality of what the Bible teaches.  Don't let anyone tell you differently, Jesus Christ died upon the cross to purchase your eternal state for you, He paid the price in order for you to be in paradise with God forever.  Prior to the cross the obstacle to getting into heaven was your sin.  The payment for sin is death, and God sent His son to make that payment for every person.  That payment is the most important element in life. Nothing is more important that what Jesus did upon the cross, nothing.  Death is a constant reminder that without that payment, life forever with God is impossible. The Bible tells us that this life is where we make decisions for how the after life will be lived, there is no other chance other than right now, today.  I know you have important decisions to make today, you may be planning or preparing for your future, but don't over look the most important decision you can make, accept the offer God has made to you through His son Jesus Christ.  Here is that offer: John 3:16 16“For God so loved  the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Make this decision today, death will be much less painful for you and those you leave behind.  Keeping it honest and truthful....K