New Year, Eternal Perspective: Facing the Inevitability of Death

At the start of this New Year, we consider what it means to live in eternity after death as Christians and how to prepare for that moment.

Let me share a story about preparing ourselves for eternity: Several years ago, while we were living in England, my wife, Sandy, and I took her parents on vacation to Scotland. One evening, as darkness fell, we looked for a hotel along the road. We passed black-painted wrought-iron gates with a sign that read, "Black Barony Hotel." Because we couldn't see the buildings from the entrance, we decided to check out the hotel. Given the time of day and the wrought-iron gates, we began joking among ourselves, saying we were heading to the Tower of Terror and that it was likely to be a haunted castle. The road wound through the trees, giving us even more time to imagine what this place would be like. We speculated whether they might have a butler resembling "Igor" from the movie Young Frankenstein. I pictured Marty Feldman's face greeting us at the door.

As we walked through the trees, we saw a massive castle with no cars in the parking lot. When we got out of the vehicle, a man with a severe hunchback approached us from the door. He had a wandering eye but looked nothing like Marty Feldman. Above the door, large letters read: 'Prepare to Meet Your God, Amos 4:12,' a Scripture quote. The man at the door told us we were the only guests that night; 75 rooms were empty. A last-minute cancellation left the hotel eerily vacant, so Sandy and I slept in a four-poster bed where King James once slept. (Yes, THAT King James, associated with the King James Bible.) The hotel proudly claimed that the king had been there. The bed was terrible, with a big dip in the middle. It probably wasn’t the same mattress, but it felt ancient—like it had been around since the 1600s! We later learned that the Bible verse was meant for soldiers training at the hotel, to prepare them to face eternity if they fell in battle.

That sign is permanently etched in my memory: “Prepare to Meet Thy God.” It's wise for us to brace ourselves for that day when we meet God. Over the next three or four days, during our daily reflections, we will explore what steps we need to take to be ready for death and judgment, and how this readiness impacts us all. Even though many of us prefer not to think about that moment, Scripture reminds us that everyone will have to account for their actions and motives at the end of life, when God calls us. Praise be to God, who will appear with us in that moment.

Man is destined to die once, and after that, to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God (Romans 14:12).

Death is a subject that most people prefer to avoid. J. Kirby Anderson famously remarked, “Death is the most universal and democratic of all human functions. It impacts everyone regardless of age, class, creed, or color.” Despite its inevitability and a 100% success rate, many hesitate to discuss or think about it. Woody Allen's well-known saying is, “I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.”

As much as we try to avoid it, death remains inevitable. Everyone must face it eventually, regardless of wealth or insurance. No one knows exactly how much time they have left. Interestingly, even though we accept its inevitability, most tend to avoid contemplating it and do little to prepare. An article in the Boston Globe once listed notable individuals who had died that year, noting they had joined "the great majority." Death is, indeed, a universal certainty, and those who have died constitute the great majority.

An epitaph on a tombstone states, "Stop, as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I; as I am now, you will surely be. So prepare yourself to follow me!" Beneath it, someone wrote, "To follow you, I'm not content until I know the way you went!" The passerby was correct. It's vital to know where one is headed after death, but once guided in the right direction, we should brace ourselves for what lies beyond the grave. We will continue this reflection tomorrow. Keith Thomas

Taken from the series  Insights into Eternity. Click on the study Are You READY for Eternity?

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