December 2, 2015

As an editorialist, I’m always thinking about editorial topics.  What to write about?  What topic can I use to teach a spiritual lesson?  The events of this past Wednesday, December 2, 2015, graphically and dramatically solved my dilemma as to what to use and what our spiritual lesson would be today.

As the world now knows, my town, San Bernardino, California, became the focal point of the news world.  On that date, terror came to my neighborhood in the form of a catastrophic terrorist attack.  The end result of that event was 14 dead and 21 wounded by a husband and wife team of Islamic killers, plus the death of them also.

Personally, based upon my career as a police officer, and my study of the Bible, I have tremendous feelings of sympathy and compassion for those innocent victims and their families and absolutely none for the perpetrators.  The fact that they died in a violent confrontation with police officers simply verifies the words of Jesus, commonly paraphrased, that those who “live by the sword, die by the sword.”  (Matt. 26:52).

And, when we turn to the 13th chapter of Romans, we’re told in verse 4 that the “rulers” (authorities) are God’s “ministers.”  That they “bear not the sword in vain” because they are there to “execute wrath” upon the evildoers.   In my humble opinion, they executed their duty as ordained by God.

But, what was tragically brought home to us was the fact that mass terror killings was no longer an abstract or distant phenomenon, but rather a very real and frightening realization that our world can change in a heartbeat.  I’m not going to relate the much-reported details of the incident, I’m just going to offer a short lesson for you to consider about something addressed throughout God’s Word.  Something that was so graphically brought home to us last Wednesday.  That “something” is the brevity and uncertainty of life here on earth.

A most appropriate passage regarding this thought is seen in the words of God, penned by the hand of James in chapter 4, verse 14:   “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.  For what is your life?  It is a vapor, that appeareth for a lilttle while, and then it vanisheth away.” I submit to you that the events of this past Wednesday make shockingly clear those words of James.

I’m also cognizant of the fact that the subject of the ending of life is one that we like to avoid talking about.  That we humans don’t like to be reminded of the brevity of life.  Sometimes it takes a tragic event to sort of wake us up, so to speak.  To cause us to consider the unpleasant thought of our lives ending. 

To cause us to consider, as the writer of Deuteronomy put it, “our latter end.” which we read in chapter 32 verse 29.  To think about what happens after our earthly life is over.  And, as James said it, we don’t know when, where or how that will come to pass.  Something that was so tragically brought home to many people the other day.

Here are some thoughts that came to my mind, prompted by last Wednesday’s terribly event.  First off, since we never know when our soul will return to God (Eccl. 12:7) it would behoove us to have it ready to meet its Maker at all times.  For the simple reason that we’re not guaranteed another breath, much less another day. 

Since we know how uncertain our lives are, (the Bible further describes them as being nothing more than a “vapor” or a “wind that passes away and never comes again”.  Or, like “grass” and “flowers” that “withereth and falleth away”), the idea is that we should always be prepared for the certainty of our earthly death coming at an uncertain time. 

Whether we like it or not, nothing about human life is immortal.  But, according to 1Cor. 15:53, at the conclusion of this life, we will “put on immortality.”  So, the subsequent thought to that is, where do we want to spend our immortality?  I don’t have any way of knowing the preparedness of those who lost their lives in last Wednesday’s evil event, but my prayer is that they were in accord with the Gospel of Christ.  (2Tim. 1:10)

When I consider their’s and all of our lives reaching its end, I know that there will be notices of it placed in the local newspapers.  These notices are called: obituaries.  A brief account of our lives.  Think about this - heaven keeps an obituary on file and the Bible calls it “the Book of Life.”  What’s vastly important about this obituary is that the dead will be “judged according to their works, by the things which (are) written in the books.  (Rev. 20:12)

I’m going to close my thoughts now by just reminding us that, as evidenced by the tragic end of 14 lives last Wednesday, we should strive to have our lives in such a condition that we can echo the words found in Num. 23:10 - “Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his.”   And, let us recall these words of Jesus: “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”  (John 11:26)

"Live as though Christ died yesterday, rose from the grave today, and is coming back tomorrow.” (Theodore Epp)

--Ron Covey