My Prayer Book And Devotion.

The strength of God.

One day, we each will stand before the judgment seat of God who knows both our good deeds and our sins. We will have to answer for those sins. This makes me wonder just how much like Paul we are. Would we really be happier to be at home with the Lord? Death is always something we at one time or another must think about, whether we want to or not. Most of the time it is not what we want to think about! There are those who think that to plan a funeral for themselves will bring on an early death. Personally, I have most of the plans made as my children keep reminding me that I have been the one who has planned all the family funerals so I had to plan mine before going on a trip that they considered dangerous. If we truly walk by faith, then death should not bring fear, but the knowledge that we will be spending eternity with the God who loves us and his Son who saved us. I have a feeling that our faith doesn't always overcome our very natural fear of the unknown. As with the parable of Lazarus and the rich man who wanted someone from the dead to return and tell his brothers to reform, we might like someone we know to come back from the dead and tell us that it will be okay. Perhaps this is the lure that those who claim to commune with the dead have for those living who want reassurance. But to walk by faith does require courage, the courage to do the right thing daily so that we might feel secure knowing that we are doing our best to please God.