Neville Turley

“No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do. Actually everything belongs to you: Paul, Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future—all these are yours, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 (GNT)

Imagine suffering and being wracked with pain. On the brink of death, you hear the words: “I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.” That was the experience of one of the criminals crucified alongside Jesus. Despite his own intense suffering, Jesus reached out in love and saved the soul of a criminal who was otherwise lost.

People often tell you that they do not fear death but the act of dying terrifies them.  Unless we are certain of where we are going after we die, we should be scared, very scared. For the Bible tells us that death is not the end of our existence. So, what happens when we die?  We are changed in a twinkling. Our bodies are taken back to the earth. Our spirit lives on. Believers in Jesus Christ know what awaits them. 

“There are many rooms in my Father's house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so.  And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)

In our verse for today, Paul includes death as one of God’s gifts to us. To the world death is the worse fate that can befall one. To Christians there is hope in death. For death is the doorway to Paradise where our Lord will welcome us home.

Prayer: Heavenly Father thank you for your Son our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit inspire us to follow in his footsteps and make known your heavenly glory to a world steeped in darkness. Amen