A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit
Have you ever given a thought as to how you would like to die? I mean we are all going to do it, so it would be nice if we had a say in the matter…even if we really don’t. There are a thousand at least, if not a million ways to go. You could choose the adventurers death….lost in the Bermuda triangle and a storm drowns you, or in your attempt to climb Mount Everest you freeze to death. Maybe you want a romantic death….collapsing of a broken heart only to have your love return barely before it beats its last. No one I am sure would choose a lingering death from a wasting disease or a tragic death in a car accident or a natural disaster…or a terrorist attack, or a brutal murder of passion. Truthfully there is no adventure, or romance or beauty in death. It is the end a body, a beautiful creation made to live…and it strives to live even the harshest of circumstances. The intricate workings of the human body strive to outlive cancer, catastrophe, and even old age. As my 90+ grandmother lay in her hospital bed, her body succumbing to congenital heart failure, it took weeks for her to pass away, her body slowly shutting down, circulation, breathing, heartbeats….but it kept on trying to do what it was meant to…and yet pulling back bit by bit as it gave in to expiry. I think her soul was long ready to leave this world before her body was…it was a painful separation. I saw my mom die from complications due to cancer…and a baby of a friend perish as he gave into the many ills his little body was born with….there is no glamour in death…just loss. So how really do I want to do this…this dying to this world? Can you do it well?
How Jesus died….far too soon….is the most brutal of deaths…and in a way no one would choose. But the most incredible amazing thing is…He did choose it. And He chose it as atonement for sin…and even more incredible, He chose it not to save Himself, for our sake, for your sake. He was the only man to choose the time and true manner of His death. Some of you will says suicide is a choice, and while it is, it is also a mutation of death born on twisted lies that bring skewed thinking. I believe that it is an enemy that uses suicide to murder and destroy. This cannot be called a personal choice. It is not of God. When Jesus gave up His earthly life, He knew He had accomplished what He came to do, and it was finished. And I do not want His choice to be in vain. I want to live Holy, set apart to do His work so others may know who He is. He CHOSE not only to die, but to suffer and die for me, so I want to live now. This life is a poor substitute to the one He sacrificed for me, but I want to live my life in a way that honours and glorifies Him and His sacrifice. I want to sail through the Bermuda Triangle to the other side, climb Mount Everest, I want to avoid or survive disease, tragedy, and catastrophe, and I want to LOVE people, look into their eyes and say it loud and clear, ‘I love you’ and mean it with every fibre of my being…and I want to do it to my last breath…whenever that is. If I could choose…I would fall asleep one night in my 90s, never to arise again, with a smile on my face, and whispering, ‘It is finished’ knowing my time here is done and I did all I could to bring glory to the sacrifice He gave.
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