Life
is fragile. In the last week or so I’ve had reason to be reminded.
First, I met up with our latest grandson, Matteo, born before his
due date by C section and so very small. For the first two weeks, the paediatrician
was concerned because he gained little weight. That the small body contained
all the organs sufficient to sustain human life is a miracle. Yet it is frail
enough to visualise life ebbing away too easily.
Second, this week I completed the initial draft of a book
describing my
journey through Prostate Cancer. It was a reminder, that without medical
intervention, I would be dead now. Add to that an acute heart attack eighteen
months later and a surgical implant within twenty four hours: a second brush
with death.
As I look at how we live and the hazards all around us, I marvel
that any of us survive past ten years of age. Yet, even recognizing that, there
are times when we feel we will live forever, a deceiving sense that life is
secure and all that we desire is within our reach.
Perhaps it is that deceiving spirit that keeps us from
preparing for death. The continuing reminders all around us should alert us
to be prepared for the next life. All the effort we make to ensure a healthy body,
gain financial security, see our family provided for, and take every safety precaution,
are meaningless if we are unprepared for what follows death.
It never ceases to amaze me that the provision available in
Jesus Christ for assurance in the next life is ignored by the majority. There is
eternal wisdom in Jesus’ words: “What good will it be for a man if he gains the
whole world, yet forfeits his soul? (Matthew 16:26).
