I was visiting a nursing and rehab center and while talking to one of the residents I asked her how she was doing. She said, she was just born to die. You know that is a fact of life that we all face at one time or another. It is a sobering thought that death is no respecter of persons and it can strike at any time to any age, no matter how rich, or how poor, how pretty or how ugly. It just happens.

 

Some time ago I was faced with death and the possibilities of it. In preparing the sermon for my step-mom‘s funeral it was quite a contrast to the last funeral I officiated. The difference in preparing a funeral for an 83 year old and a 25 year old will make you really think about the future.

 

The young lady was 25 years old when she died. As a young teenager she had been a close friend of my children and many times had eaten at our table with our family. Her brother was and is my sons best friend to this day. It is ironic that before her death in a terrible car crash, she had donated one of her kidneys to her ailing brother and it saved his life. She died so young and had such a giving spirit it really makes you ask, why would God let such a thing happen to such a person, with so much life left to live? That was a hard funeral to officiate but knowing the truth about the resurrection made it a positive truth to look forward too. She will live again and her future will be brighter than it has ever been.

 

My step mom was 83. She had been suffering with Alzheimer‘s for several years, and the last year and half she had been under hospice care. Her only future was the hope of the grave and that of the resurrection. The thing that made her death so traumatic was, she had been married to my dad for 46 years and I‘ve never known a more devout couple. Dad had been her primary care taker and when dad had his heart attack, I had to put her in the nursing home. Right before dad had his surgery she had a heart attack and she ended up in the same hospital where he was. The hospital couldn‘t do anything for her so before they sent her back to the nursing home they put her in a room right across the hall from dad. She seemed to calm down a bit and he got to see her for a while. She was taken back to the nursing home and that was the last time he saw her alive. She died right before he went into surgery. I believe it was her time to die as she had led a full life and her good years were all behind her.

 

Isn‘t it interesting how all roads lead to the same place, “The grave”? The pull of the grave could not even be avoided by Jesus Christ. Christ was born to die and so are we. I find it ironic that Jesus had to die a horrible death in order that we humans could someday gain eternal life. What a gift God gave to the world. (John 12:27, Heb 9:27, Eccl 3:1-8)

 

As time goes on we will all have to face the end of our road. The question we must all ask is, “What kind of road did we leave behind?” Was it a road filled with regret and disappointment or was it a road filled with love, giving, caring, sharing and putting others welfare above our own? How will it be for you and me? Only time will tell as we are all born to die and we should make the best of our allotted time.