What do George Washington, the Apostle Paul, and Thomas Edison have in common?
The answer: they have all died. I know, how morbid of me.
People naturally (and maybe subconsciously) try not to think about death. But it is good for us to think about death. Hebrews 9:27 says that “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Let’s be realists and consider our brevity. We will all die! Do you know where you are going when you die? Hebrews 2 and 1 Corinthians 15 explains that Christians don’t have to fear death.
But even so, Christians would do well to consider their mortality. Thomas Watson suggests the following:
If we should be humble, let us contemplate our mortality. Shall dust exalt itself? The thoughts of the grave should bury our pride. … The serious meditation of death is enough to cure the swelling of pride. – (p.87 of A Godly Man’s Picture)
Whenever we come to a genealogy in scripture, study history, or watch the news, we can be reminded of man’s mortality.
James 4:13-17:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”– yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Will you serve God with the time he has given you? Pastors should cultivate humility and prepare to be replaced. Are you training up leaders to take your spot? Are you willing to leave your position if God so calls? You are God’s instrument. You are important, but not indispensable.
(FYI: Check out points 4 and 5 in “Don’t Waste Your Cancer“)
