Ending a Godless Life

I suppose that we are all filled with wonder as to what the last few moments of life will be like for us. When I hear the news that people were killed "instantly", I wonder what that was like. How could someone be living and breathing at one moment and entered into eternity in the next second. I also wonder if I'll have the chance to say anything memorable for my last words like movie actors do just before their dying breath.

A few years ago, I was gripped by the lines of the hymn, My Jesus, I Love Thee, that say, "I'll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death, and praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath, then say when the death dew lies cold on my brow, if ever I loved Thee my Jesus 'tis now." What a vivid image of loving and praising Christ in those last moments of life on the Earth.

The psalmist wrote in Psalm 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." What comfort and joy that brings to the heart of the believer as they find confidence and hope in this promise of God. When a saint, a follower of Jesus Christ, gets close to death...God is closer.

Yet, the other side of the coin is this -- if you live a Godless life, you will die a Godless death. What a pity and how sad it is for people to enter those final and uncertain moments of life apart from God's help and protection. How humbling that last breath on Earth and first breath in eternity must be for a person when they realize that the God they rejected and rebelled against is the One they needed most. I hope that will stir your heart and soul to go and join with God in helping people surrender their pride and arrogance so that they will see their greatest need is God.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for being nearest at all moments, especially, in those moments of greatest need. Help us to love you in life and in death.