Genesis 27:2 (KJV)
And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
I think I feel a bit for Isaac about now. At the age of sixty-six, “Behold, I am old...” I saw a sign the other day that read, “I thought growing old would take longer.” I understand that, with modern medicine, people claim that seventy is “the new fifty” or something to that effect. Still, the average age at death hovers around the “three score and ten”[1] God’s Word says is ours. Sixty-six is still “old.”
I feel a bit for Isaac. “Behold I am old.” But Isaac goes further than that. “I know not the day of my death.” As the years creep up, I have had more occasions to think about the death. Many of my friends, people I grew up with – people my age, some younger than me – have already passed.
There is just one absolute on this planet. It is “appointed unto men once to die.”[2] The fool ignores this absolute. The wise look it square on.
Prepare for death.
The mortician might suggest you buy a legacy plan. He’ll offer you options to plan for your own funeral, get what you want said and done at your death. What he is really after is your money. He wants to see you buy funeral service before the fact. He knows he can get more money from you if you plan it before you die than he will get if your family has to pay for it after you die. The Bible says, “let the dead bury the dead.” The best way to prepare for death is to prepare for eternal life. Do you know for sure you will go to heaven when you die? You can know, you know?[3]
Don’t fret over death.
If you have prepared for eternal life, then death doesn’t have to be fearful. The Bible says 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (KJV)
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I suppose everyone fears the way they die. No one has to fear that they die, so long as they know they know the Lord Jesus Christ.
Finish well.
As he began to contemplate death, Isaac got his eyes off the promise of God. Somehow, he lost track of the purpose of God for his family. His would be the line from which the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ would come, and God had already promised that the Saviour would come from the seed of Jacob, not Esau. There is nothing wrong with loving both of his sons. I can only surmise that Isaac allowed his sense of death to cloud his judgment as much as age had clouded his eyes.
It is appointed unto me once to die. Prepare wisely for it, don’t fret about it, and keep your eyes on Christ as you draw near to it.
#PrepareForEternity #FaithOverFear #BiblicalWisdom #FinishWell #TrustInChrist
Living Well, Dying Well: Facing Mortality with Faith
[1] Genesis 27:2 (KJV)
And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
[2] Hebrews 9:27 (KJV)
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
[3] 1 John 5:13 (KJV)
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
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