Will You Die Well?

1 Peter 1: 24-25

For “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

We die.  It is the human condition.  One can joke about death and taxes, but death is inevitable to us all, excepting the Return of our Lord Jesus.  But as the maxim goes, “Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best”, preparing for death is proper. 

We do not like death in this country.  It defies the American Dream.  Lifting ourselves up by our bootstraps-no, that is the Protestant Work Ethic…  Work hard, play hard…  That is a beer commercial, right?  There is no factoring in of the end of life in the fullness of life that we pursue.  We sideline old people, warehouse them all too often if they can’t keep up.  I think I have observed this before, that more and more people are not opting for a funeral, but just want to tuck the ‘gone’ person away and not think about it. 

A huge part of Christianity concerns itself with the promise that we shall overcome death.  The death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the opening to resurrection for all who believe in Him.  It is amazing. 

“The grass withers and the flower falls…”  It is inevitable, but let us not forget that we are and were flowers, things of great beauty.  In fact, in the eternal life, we will be the perfection of the flowers that we were made in this transitory life.

So the question I ponder is ‘how shall I make the most of life before the flower falls?’  What is the great beauty to be found in every person that I will struggle to find?  Where is the image of God?  Where is the face of Jesus in each person that I meet?

Will I be ready at the end to move on to something else, filled to the brim with the things of life?  Or will I linger, mourning the paths not taken, the opportunities left aside, sliding into the grave with regret as my only comfort?