DEATH.

The other day I was thinking about dying.  More specifically, I was thinking of that moment when we will all slip from this life and into the unknown.

Even more specifically, I was thinking of that split second release, that last breathe, that falling from our bodies into vast eternity.  What will it be like to let go of all that is tangible in this world, and jump into the everlasting?

I was thinking it will be scary.

My grandma died a little over 1 year ago.  She had been battling that evil enemy, cancer, for many years.

She was tired of fighting, had a glimpse of what lay ahead, and she decided to cease chemo.

After she died, the hospice nurse commented on how she looked.  She said, "Most people fight it until the end and have a look of struggle on their face.  She looked relaxed and at peace."

wow.

I'm just not sure that I would look peaceful, I would be one of the ones who fight it until the end, face tense, struggling against the unknown, trying to hold onto every breathe.  She was ready.

Maybe she saw a pool of love, of loved ones, and decided to just JUMP IN!

This morning I read Isaiah 9:2.  The New King James Version...Isaiah was talking about Jesus coming into the world and he said, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined."

Ahhh, this image is beautiful to me.  Souls, lost to death, as we all will be, wandering around in the darkness of impending doom, have a beacon of light, hope, and life.

One of the most beautiful pictures of Jesus was painted for me by my pastor, Pastor George.  He was talking about the time when Jesus went to Lazarus' tomb.  (John 11)

Remember that story?

Lazarus had been, quite literally, rotting in the grave.  He had been swallowed by death, physically and spiritually and then Jesus calls him out of the tomb, "Lazarus, come forth!"

But what Pastor George talked about was HOW Jesus faced it, HOW he commanded Lazarus to come forth.  He said that, in better translations, Jesus is described as a warrior, come to battle his greatest enemy, death.

John 11:38 says Jesus "groaned in himself."  Many of us would think, "Aww, Jesus sighed because he was sad."

But Jesus wasn't a passive man who would groan out of despair.  If you really read the New Testament you can see that Jesus came as an aggressor against an enemy.

So, my Pastor said it wasn't a groan like we think of it.  Other translations describe it as a snort.  But not just any kind of snort, no, this one was like one from a Stallion that is facing down an enemy.

A snort of derision, of repulsion, of disgust.

It was a declaration of, "I'm sick of you, Death, and all the fear you wield around these people I love, and I'm gonna show everyone who's boss RIGHT NOW!!"

And then he does!  He  SHOUTS,  "LAZARUS, COME FORTH!!!!!!!!"

And here comes Zombie man, wrapped up from the burial procedures, stinky, but alive and ready to face the day!

Today we must remember that Jesus didn't just come to Earth to make peace, or people happy, or show them how to get along.  That really wasn't his goal at all.  His laser like focus was to defeat an oppressive enemy.

And he did.

Let's follow him into eternity, with a peaceful countenance.

If you don't know Jesus, you can, "Lord Jesus, You are everything, I am not.  Please be my Savior, forgive me, help me.  Show me Your ways that lead to life, true life, everlasting life."