Death

I remember the days when I would want to wear clothing and the clothing would not be a good representation of who I am, or I would listen to music that was kind of out there (back in my day it was “Too Live Crew”) and I would not care. Yet at that point, what I was putting in to my soulish man was taking root and setting itself up to manifest in years to come. (That is another thought for discussion at another time).The point I am getting at is the infatuation with the skull imagery. I was in the store the other day and I observed a wall full of clothing with skulls on them. I began to get a bit disturbed by this open display of death. Now, I must admit, I used to think about getting a tattoo of the grim reaper holding a sickle and a 12 gauge Mossberg on my back (whew, glad I rethought that). I wanted to get this symbol as a sign that I was not one to be messed with. Well in retrospect, I am still not one to be messed with and it is because of what is inside, not because of what someone drew on me. Back to the skull thing, this simply tells me that, once again, the enemy (society) has got humanity all twisted up. I guess you can call me the “society” police (lol). What is the infatuation with death? Why is it being celebrated? Let’s take a look at this from a different viewpoint:Hebrews 9:27 tell us that, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”This tells us that death is not the end, but a stage of transition. We as believers in Christ know that we look forward to this moment when we will hear our Lord tell us, “Well done thy good and faithful servant…” However, society would have you believe that you die and then that is it, so why not live it up? Why not do what you want to do? Look at death in the scripture, “it is appointed unto men once to die…” When an individual reaches death, they are actually in the highest court. You see, in actuality the life we live is a preparation for a trial. Every move we make are “exhibits a, b, c” and so forth. Any improper motive we have will be brought up on the day of our trial. We will be judged. I feel the need to say it again,“We will be judged.” The next step after death is “the judgment.”For what? Why? Well it goes something like this. We are the only creatures in GOD’S creation that have a choice. That is why there is grace and mercy, because of the choices that we make. If we always made the right choices there would be no need for forgiveness. That is why GOD is faithful and just to forgive us. (1 John 1:9) It also says that we must “confess our sins” so there is a need for forgiveness because there is wrongdoing.No matter what you do, no matter whom you do it with, no matter what area code, zip code, country code, whatever. It will be brought to light and you will be judged according to Ecclesiastes 12:14 (refer back to the Laws and Principles note). There is no exception. So here we are, still celebrating death when death is a serious matter. How serious? It is serious enough to be mentioned 342 times in the Bible. (KJV)However, I ask again, why celebrate death? We only go through death one time and the gravity of it is very serious. Why don’t we celebrate life? Instead of wearing something negative, wear something positive. Choose to celebrate the life you were given. Choose to celebrate the gifts that GOD has given. Celebrate the love that you have for your spouse, parents, siblings and children. Most important, choose to celebrate the ultimate sacrifice that was made for you when Christ gave up HIS life so that we may have eternal life and remember: Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. Judgment is inevitable, what will the judgment be on your behalf?