Ezekiel 18:32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

This whole section is a refutation of the image the devil tries to project on us of what God is like. The devil wants us to see God as just waiting in heaven to strike us down if we displease Him. If that were the case, the world would have been destroyed a long time ago! God’s perfect justice requires Him to punish iniquity, so that’s why He sent His Son to take that punishment on Himself, so that all who believe in Him may be set free from their sins and live. That’s what John 3:16 is all about. Back specifically to this verse, physical death is an inevitability for all of us. There is a hospice nurse (who goes by hospicenursejulie on social media) who has a very compassionate and helpful channel on YouTube. Many people don’t want to confront, much less accept, that reality, but that doesn’t change anything. The important thing is a right relationship with our Creator so that we will have His eternal life, making our physical life just a brief, though important, footnote in our existence. As it says in Hebrews, the fear of death makes us slaves. (Hebrews 2:15) God wants us all to be liberated by the truth of His grace, mercy and love. (John 8:32)

Over 40 years ago there was a group that produced some very anointed songs that were Old Testament Scriptures set to music. I wish I could remember their group name, so I could look them up! One of their songs included this verse, and it has stayed with me ever since. I have thought a lot about death, and as a pastor I have “seen a lot of people off,” you might say. It’s never easy on the survivors, because of the temporal loss, but there is a world of difference between believers and nonbelievers in that situation. I have had joy in some cases, knowing where the people were going, and I have had profound regret in other cases. Absent an open commitment to Christ, all I can do is submit them to God, since I cannot tell their family, “They’re in heaven.” I have absolutely no fear of death myself, but I am concerned for those I will leave behind. That’s why I pray that my wife will go before I do, to spare her that. However, I’d like to keep her around as long as possible! Meanwhile, I seek to take as many people as possible with me, to rejoice before God’s throne together.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the deep assurance of salvation that You have given me. May that assurance be rightly imparted to as many as possible, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!