11
On the Waiting List
| Bro Joseph Oppong (Cape Coast, Ghana)
T
here is a situation in life that comes to all
men and women, old and young, high and
low, rich and poor, and it can occur at any
time. At some point we all suffer the pain of
losing someone in death – a brother or sister
in Christ Jesus, or a loved relative or friend.
Even though we do not like talking about it,
death is a constant phenomenon of life, and
we are better if we learn how to accept and
handle it, rather than try to hide from it. One
of the most startling statements in the Bible is,
“It is better to go to a house of mourning than
to go to a house of feasting; for it is the des-
tiny of every man; the living should take this
to heart” (Ecc. 7:2). “For the living know that
they shall die: but the dead know not any-
thing, neither have they any more reward; for
the memory of them is forgotten” (Ecc. 9:5)
Death should remind us that we are all on the
waiting list. When we live healthy lives and
enjoy the good things of the Lord in this world,
it is not easy to believe that we are on this
waiting list. Yet a visit to a hospital, being at
the battlefield or at a funeral,
will awaken us to the reality.
Talking about the battlefield,
some people, whose countries
have passed through the valley
of the shadow of death, speak
of gruesome deaths and the
frailty of human life. “As for
man, his days are like grass; he
flourishes like a flower of the
field; the wind blows over it,
and it is gone, and its place re-
members it no more” (Ps. 103:15-16). Often
we only go for the “flourishes like a flower”,
but forget that soon, “the wind blows over it,
and it is gone”. Yet that is the reality of life.
Since we know this, what kind of life should
we live? We are all on the same waiting list of
death and should therefore live with a lot of
faith in our Creator, since we will all give an
account of our lives to Him. We should have a
lot of consideration for other people and share
all our resources with them. Great people
have passed through this life and are gone.
Those who lived by high principles and values
left a more lasting legacy than those who lived
by material gain. The temporary nature of life
should jolt us to face our responsibilities
toward mankind. Often people live wickedly
and commit all kinds of evil towards one
another, forgetting that they only live for a
short time. They forget that in spite of their
often mad rush for riches and possessions,
they cannot take anything with them when
they leave this world. When people flee for
dear life in situations of war, floods or earth-
quakes, none remembers their possessions;
material things are unable to stand the real
test of life.
When we walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, it is the Lord who will be
with us, not any worldly possessions we may
have. Instead of spending our time amassing
possessions in this life (especially if at the
expense of integrity or concern for other
people), we need to lay up treasure in heaven,
“where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not
break through nor steal”
(Matt. 6:20).
Death should not scare us;
rather we should take the
opportunity, while we are
alive, to live good lives before
our time comes to depart from
this world.
Jesus said, “The first of all the
commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our
God is one Lord… and the second is like,
namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself” (Mark 12:28-31). What, then, are we
all waiting for in this world? Let us have faith
in the Lord and obey his commandments.
Jesus said, “If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his
life for my sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:24-25).
So let us get on the waiting list for eternal
life.
“Remember now thy
Creator in the days of
thy youth, while the evil
days come not, nor the
years draw nigh, when
thou shalt say, I have no
pleasure in them.”
Ecclesiastes 12:1