1Ki 1:1 Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.

This opening chapter of 1 Kings introduces us into the realities of life – old age, sickness and dying. The patient was David. David was old and very weak. He was only seventy at this time. He was thirty at his accession; his reign at Hebron lasted seven years and a half; at Jerusalem thirty-three years (2 Samuel 5:4, 5). Today we may think at seventy a man is still full of vigour. But for David, it wasn’t just the years - it was the mileage. Years of military conquests, as a fugitive running away from Saul and then Absalom, energy spent in ruling the kingdom, dealing with the many conflicts n his family, and years of living in luxury and a polygamous relationship, had taken a toll on his body. It prompts the Psalmist to write: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years” (Psalm 90:10). Most of the kings of Israel and Judah did not live beyond sixty. Old age, sickness, and death - who can escape them? One contributor in the Pulpit Commentaries wrote: “SICKNESS IS GOD’S NOTICE TO QUIT.” He commented that lessons delivered to us by Providence and the warnings of preachers are often unheeded.  And so, through sickness, God is giving men a final warning, and one that they cannot disregard. Sickness should not cause us to lose faith in God. God is good even when we are suffering. When we eat unclean food, we experience vomiting, nausea, and diarrhoea. It means we fall sick. What if we cannot fall sick? We will keep doing harm to our bodies and not knowing it. Our system will break down and we die suddenly. Sickness tells us something is wrong; repair it before a worse thing happens. Sickness is God’s notice to us to act. Even a sickness that might eventually lead to death is an act of God's goodness. God is telling us to set our houses in order before we go to meet Him in eternity. He told King Hezekiah: “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live” (2 Kings 20:1). Sickness is calling men to set their houses in order and prepare to meet their God. We may think that we are still young and death is another few decades away and so why think about it. Yet, every day we read of healthy young men and women who died unexpectedly. Did they know they were going to die that day? They didn’t know! Many had plans for that day. Did the 3000 souls on that fateful September 11 know they were going to die that morning? Some would have had plans to meet their wives and children for dinner in the evening. Some would have had plans to wed on that weekend or that month or year. Their plans died with them. How would those they leave behind feel? They would wish their loved ones had call in sick that day. And, perhaps there were a few who were truly sick that morning and who should have gone to see a doctor, but chose to report to work because they had an important report to submit or a meeting to attend to; they perished that fateful morning. They should have listened to their bodies. Sickness is God’s way of sending a message to us. As He told Hezekiah to set his house in order, He is also telling us to set our houses in order. Well, not the physical house but the spiritual (2 Corinthians 5:1). This “house” will be destroyed; is our spiritual house ready to meet God? Sickness and old age are parts of life. Solomon reminds us to remember God while we are young and have the energy to serve Him (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Sickness is our alarm bell; are we listening?