The national and local news reports lately have been replete with the untimely deaths of major entertainment and television personalities such as singer and “King of Pop” Michael Jackson; actress and “Charlie’s Angel” Farrah Fawcett; infomercial king Billy Mays; and retired NFL Super Bowl quarterback Steve McNair. It is never easy to lose a loved one and we grieve with and pray for all the family members in each of these cases.
As awful and tragic as each of these situations were, we need to understand and learn several critical spiritual lessons through these events. Number one, life is very precious and very fragile. Number two, the Bible tells us that death is an enemy and that it is the thief (Satan) that comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly, not death. Untimely death is not God’s way of filling vacant positions in Heaven. I get so upset when I hear people at funerals and memorial events attribute an untimely death to God. If this is God’s doing then we need to stop praying for the sick, close all our hospitals, and quit fighting sickness, disease, addictions, and death because we are fighting against God. The God that I know was broken-hearted over each and every one of these untimely deaths.
We all need to wake up and realize we are in a spiritual war!! You and I have an enemy and his name is Satan (the Devil). He is a STEALTH BOMBER !!! He is invisible and his attacks are made when you least suspect them. His ultimate goal is to kill, steal, and destroy, and then blame it all on God. What a sweet deal! His weapons are old but they are still very potent. They include such things as alcohol, sex, drugs, adultery, sickness, disease, unforgiveness, greed, hate, etc., etc. Most of these fall under the category of sin and they usually come wrapped in a pretty package, but the end result is the same. The wages of sin is death, but thank God we have been given a way of escape and we have been given armor and weapons that are mighty through God to fight these battles.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior then you have the Holy Spirit residing inside of you and the Holy Spirit, in conjunction with the Word of God, will be your guide and protector. God has provided certain fences that we are all to live within and they are for your protection. A faithful marriage is an example of such a fence, protecting us from all types of sexual transmitted diseases that lead to death and shielding us from a bullet or a beating that may come our way due to jealousy and rage. Abstaining from the use of drugs and alcohol is another fence that God has placed there for our protection. Most all of these type sins will start very innocently but they have a tendency to always escalate and the ultimate goal of the enemy is always death, whether that be physical death, death of a relationship, death of a business, death of your finances, death of a marriage, or any other type death.
I had an old preacher tell me one time. “If you let the devil in the car with you he will eventually want to drive”. That is the simplest way I know to look at some of these situations. The devil is a hitchhiker. If you have accepted Jesus Christ then the devil has no power over you unless you invite him into your car. If you let him in the car, he will eventually want to drive and you will eventually end up in a ditch somewhere.
I heard a song one time that talked about enjoying the fences that God had provided for us. In this smorgasbord timeframe of sin that we live in we need to abide within and enjoy those fences. They are not there to keep you from experiencing life. They are there to keep you and I from experiencing untimely death due to our own choices.
Proverbs 11:19 – “As righteousness tendeth to life; so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death“.
Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord“.
Deuteronomy 30:19 – “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live “
We encourage each of you today to choose life!!!! I am convinced that God’s desire is for each of us to live a long and prosperous life.
