Notes On A Napkin #2

Death's Unexpected Knock!

Imagine if you would, how you think the end might be for you having lived life, and partook in all things that were privy to you. You are taking the days as they come, reveling in the privileges that come with being alive. You may have attended numerous funerals, and have heard tell it that someone you knew had ‘kicked the bucket’…but do you ever think that one day you will go this same route? It is said the death is ominous, dark, and foreboding. Really?! You couldn’t prove that to the heavenly senate, where God is in control determining who is next. His legislation is absolute – He’s judge and jury. When death comes knocking there’s no defense, no lamentations, and certainly nothing to stop the inevitable. You see, God calls it a homecoming and it wasn’t meant to be sad and mourning. Rather, it’s a joyous occasion and cause for celebration. If only we heed what has always been status quo with God, and that is not to be of the world but with your sights upward towards Zion, but to do that we need to do a better job of understanding faith to make our elections sure.

People die all the time, at different times and for variable reasons. We hold on to virtues that are not in the realm of Christian value and find ourselves in a pall for the wrong reasons. We think nothing of living the life and accumulating as much material things possible to aid and abet sin. I include myself in this, for I’ve been guilty of apostasy, lackadaisical faith initiatives, and just doing what I wanted to do without paying homage to Him. Death’s unexpected knock can come at any moment to claim you. Would you be ready? Have you prepared for the New Jerusalem? Hearty and straightforward questions are these, but they must be answered for clarity to be the beacon to change.

When death comes knocking it can claim the likes of Martin Luther King’s eldest, Yolanda King, Jerry Falwell, and most recently to my dear friend and colleague, Katherine D. Jones. Three good people who may have done what was needed to see another life. After being spared for over a half of a century now, I will be grateful. Moreover, I will speak for myself and say that I’m glad that time has rendered me a new heart, and a righteous mind for that which is much more formidable looking at death through the other end. I know that the Lord said that life is not eternal, and that three score and seven would be the norm. Anything more than that, I know would be living on borrowed time. Would it behoove me to keep the faith and hope that readers reading this blog would change their way of thinking about death? Of course! You’d want to be prepared to know that there’s truly life after death – but it shouldn’t kill you on the way to salvation!