I Do Not Fear Death
“The Triumph Of Christianity Over Paganism” by Gustave Doré, 1899
I do not fear death.
I am but the exhale of a loving God. Like every human being I breathe—I exist in this body, at this moment—because He wills it. On a day I cannot control, nor predict, my breath will cease. My body will collapse, will remain behind to be caked in earth, as my soul is catapulted into the immortal world, the afterworld, the realm of heaven and hell, God and Satan.
I do not fear death.
I no longer belong to the devil. I have aligned myself with Jesus, and I will not switch sides. The jaws of hell snap at me, but He pulls me by the hand through the labyrinth of this life. He will not let go of me—not now, not at the moment of death. I cling, always, to Him.
I do not fear death.
At its coming, I will find myself, finally, before God. I will fall on my face, a sorry sinner, but confident in His mercy. I have already pledged Him my past, my faults, my sin-stained soul. I bear the stamp of God—and the living presence of His son, sealed by the Holy Spirit—on my soul. Jesus came not for the perfect—but for the hopeless. This is how I know I belong to Him.
I do not fear death.
My one wish is to be gathered directly into His arms. For when I die, I do not wish to go anywhere else. For has not my soul been awaiting heaven its whole earthly life? And so, I have asked the Lord to permit my purification here and now, that by these worldly sufferings, He might not hesitate to embrace my soul.
I do not fear death.
I have always been His little fireball—I have always lived hard and fast. But I have surrendered to Him the rest of my earthly and eternal days, and so I trust Him to burn me into the ground, to use me up on this earth. I would have it no other way.
I do not fear death.
For I now know the purpose of my life: it is to be of bold service to Him—and His other, precious children. It is to usher souls across this earthly age, back to Him. Here, where God has planted me, He wishes me to bloom and produce until the day He gathers me home to Him.
Matthew 10:28-31
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.
