Death's An Exciting Birth

Death's not so bad, after aging's sorrows;
I've not tried it, but living, pain grows;
More dread, than yearning, for new tomorrows!
The monster is change, which constantly flows;
Familiar routines always disappear,
Until an old man's vista is empty, gray.
That's when life o'er death displays more to fear,
And drawn shades sweeter than the light of day!
But I found Jesus, when my years were few,
He taught me my next life's far more than this,
That's mere prelude; the next's really new;
Endless; living in paradise and bliss!
Death's an exciting birth, not a dismal end;
It's worth suffering aging's futile blend!

Do you think life is easy for a growing babe, floating in the womb, or struggling to crawl or walk? No, it is not easy. But if he knew well what happiness might possibly follow his years of struggle, he would gladly volunteer to go through it again at age 84, just to add a year or two more of this life.

This life, though, is not to be compared with the life that follows death for the Christian. The sorrows of aging are in some small way comparable to those of a babe learning to live this life; for the Christian ager, they are joyful, for he knows the life to follow is so much longer, sweeter, and without any sorrow or pain.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has perceived, what God has prepared for those that love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

There are many wonderful promises in the Bible about what Christians will find in heaven in their new life after death in this one. Paul, in the scripture above, sums it all up by stating the impossibility of humans to know in advance all that God has prepared for them. It is similar to how the Pharaoh of Egypt felt when he asked the Greek mathematician Euclid to teach him mathematics. He answered him with the classic response of a teacher to the parent of a child struggling with the subject, "Sir, there is no royal road to Geometry." Likewise, there is no human road to a knowledge of what heaven will be like. We do know this much: There are two roads to life after death; every one of us is going down one or the other. You can choose to go to heaven by belief in Jesus Christ. You can choose to go to a place of torment by ignoring God/Jesus. We also know this: You must choose in this brief testing time that we call "this life". When you die, it is too late.

I chose Jesus at age 9. For 75 years He has been at my side. I lived far less honorably than He wanted me to; nevertheless, He never abandoned me. I was not successful, as some might say; I didn't have more troubles or sorrows as others surely did; but I look back, and I would not change one decision of my career or one for my personal career. Now I am blessed for living longer than most; I certainly don't know why, and neither do my doctors. I have lost eyesight for a time, and God gave it back. Now I am losing it again, for good, the doctor says. Maybe so. But it doesn't matter. Aging is my baby steps, learning what I need to know to live in heaven. I need to live like Jesus taught us to live; I haven't learned it yet.