Daily devotional, March 4, 2024 Time to go
"Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."
Isaiah 46:4
When I was much younger, I strangely liked reading obituaries. I was fascinated about reading the ages of the people that died, their families that survived them, as well as other details and circumstances of their death and funeral arrangements.
The other day, we were discussing at home the different ways some biblical characters died. My eldest for one was fascinated about Prophet Elijah being picked up by Chariots of Fire towards heaven.
"And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more."
2 Kings 2:11-12
Then I remembered Enoch, another Old Testament character just being taken away by God. Like Elijah, his body was never seen again.
"Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."
Genesis 5:24
For me though, Moses’ death seems to be the best way to go. At the age of 125 years old, his body and eyesight were strong enough to follow God’s command to climb up a mountain, and view the Promised Land. Moses died in that place too, and guess what? God personally buried him. And if Jewish tradition were to be believed, God was with three other angels when they buried Moses, and God took away his soul when he died.
"And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried himin Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is."
Deuteronomy 34:5-6
The next time that we heard about both Elijah and Moses was in the New Testament, during Jesus Christ’s transfiguration:
"There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus."
Matthew 17:2-3
Other famous biblical characters had less dramatic death, but still peaceful. Abraham and Isaac both died and were buried by their respective sons and the rest of their clans.
Then there are of course, horrific ways to die as recorded in the Bible. Like Lot’s wife who turned into a Pillar of Salt (Genesis 19:26), or that of the Korahites who were swallowed by the Earth after revolting from Moses (Numbers 16:31-33), or that of the sons of Aaron who were consumed by fire because of a wrong offering (Leviticus 10).
For us modern day followers of Jesus, the best way to die is when our hearts are at peace and we are confident that we will go to heaven. That we know in our hearts that our Lord and Savior has prepared a room for us in his Heavenly Kingdom. And that our confidence comes not from our righteousness, but because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ whom we surrendered our life to as our Personal Lord and Savior:
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9
So for us to have that peaceful death, we ought to work out our salvation while we are here on Earth. We should not be content with just being Christians, we should be genuine followers of Christ who has a REAL relationship with Him.
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," Philippians 2:12
Genuine relationship with the Lord comes with consistently spending time with Him, during daily prayers and bible reading. It also means intentionally growing our faith through weekly worship, and attending faith enrichment classes and fellowship with other believers. It also means helping others to be saved by spreading the gospel.
It is never too late to help ourselves have a peaceful death by getting our names in the Book of Life. And why not level it up further by aspiring to hear from our Lord that we did well in life as His good and faithful servant?
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Deuteronomy 34:1-8 and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Have you ever thought of how you would go? Are you confident of eternal life?
Conversation with the Lord: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for giving us a chance to work out our salvation. Give us the confidence to stay by your feet and build a personal relationship with you. Amen.