WARNING PREACHY…
The other
night we had dinner with my aunt and uncle and we began talking about the Witch
at Endor (1 Samuel 28)1. I admitted that the bible speaks of a medium
actually bringing back the soul of a dead person and it confounds me because I don’t
really think about spirits and ghosts as a reality; but because of 1 Sam. 28 I
really cannot deny such a thing. As the
conversation progressed we got talking about people who had been raised back to
life from the dead or people who have been resuscitated back to life on the
doctor’s gurney. Of course it morphed
into a conversation that we didn’t expect and I came up with three rules for my
children for when I die.
1. Do not Resuscitate
This may sound harsh, but seriously – LET ME GO! I am fully convinced that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8) so when you resuscitate me you are bringing me back from the Presence of the Lord – and that’s where I really want to be. Please don’t let your selfish desire to have me alive make you feel like I need to be on this earth – if you love me you will let me go.
This may sound harsh, but seriously – LET ME GO! I am fully convinced that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8) so when you resuscitate me you are bringing me back from the Presence of the Lord – and that’s where I really want to be. Please don’t let your selfish desire to have me alive make you feel like I need to be on this earth – if you love me you will let me go.
2.
Pull the Plug
I figure if you are given the uncertain choice to pull the plug on me thinking that I might die without the plug, pull it. In fact, one better, don’t put me on the plug to begin with. Just let me die. I’m not suicidal here I’m just saying that I am absolutely OK with leaving this crummy world and being with Jesus. When I became a Christian in 1994 I knew then that I will live as long as God has work for me to do for his kingdom here on this earth, so none of us has to fret it. I won’t be jumping off a tall building anytime thus putting God to the test (Luke 4:9-11) but I have no problem letting God take me at His leisure.
3. Don’t make Me Your Guardian Angel
When my grandpa died I was not a Christian and had no reference of how the afterlife worked, so I just assumed that after he died he was watching over me. Once I became a Christian I realized my perception wasn’t all that correct.
When my grandpa died I was not a Christian and had no reference of how the afterlife worked, so I just assumed that after he died he was watching over me. Once I became a Christian I realized my perception wasn’t all that correct.
When I die, I will not be your guardian angel and I will not be watching over you. I fully expect to have much better things to do in eternity that watch you view and like yet another YouTube video, engage in some sort of Jerry Springer type drama with the people in your life, or watch you climb the corporate ladder of life. (Revelation 21:4) Of course I will be proud of you if you seek to serve our Holy, Holy, Holy God, but I have no desire to experience anything more of earthly geopolitical news and events. If you love me, please let me go to be with the Lord and not waste my eternity by believing that I remain here with you on earth as your guardian angel.
Finally,
if you decide that you don’t believe that when I die I will actually be with Jesus
for the rest of eternity, I am sorry; that is a faith issue that you will have
to work out in yourself. I tried to
teach you about the resurrected Jesus and His Call for us to follow Him into a
Holy life, if you reject that then there is nothing more I can do. But please, honor me enough to allow me my
faith in Jesus and I will allow you your faith in whatever makes you think that
living in this world forever would be a pleasant thing.
I love you
but seriously, let me go.
