Expiration Date

     "We are all here for a purpose, until we aren't. Grim headstones on old Puritan graveyards stand as a warning: As I am now, so you will be.

     "From the moment of birth, life in us is so strong it's hard to imagine an expiration date, but that too is stamped from birth. 

     "'Teach us to number our days,' wrote Moses, as he drew near his end. 

     "Paul advised Thessalonians not to grieve as unbelievers do, 'For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep' (1Thessalonians 4:14).

     "I am struck by the comparison: Jesus died so that we might fall asleep. He descended to depths unknown and experienced wrath unimaginable to draw the sting of death from us. 

     "Imagine the pain as Christ entered a darker night and hit the wall harder than any man could - before breaking through. When that day finally comes for me, whether hard or peaceful, calm or violent, so will I."

Jamie Cheaney, WORLD magazine