Posted by: Rev. Charles King on Tue Feb 02 2010

This is the first of a three-part series on the above subject. The first thing that comes to mind when one sees the title is 'am I going to die?' It is a paradox when one considers the intricate interconnection that exists between life and death. The process of death begins as soon as one is born and the process of life in a whole different dimension begins as soon as one dies! Confused? Stay with me on this: with every passing day after a baby is born, there is a countdown to the day of death. If you believe that our days of life are all before God's eyes as soon as we are born, every day you live to see is a day closer to your death. It is like checking into a hotel with your spouse for your honeymoon. You check in on January 10th and plan staying till January 16th. On January 11th, you have enjoyed a day in your honeymoon, but  you have also subtracted one day from the 7 days. Day two means 5 days to go, day 3 means 4 days to go and so on.
Many have not paid attention to this pattern of life because we have a natural tendency to postpone our death because we want to live long and enjoy life. In some cultures, it is even abhorrent to mention death to the living. The way we adorn our dead relatives is a classical example of our attempt to make them appear as though they were alive. Unfortunately, until the resurrection, Hebrews makes it clear in Heb 9:27 that we only have one life to live, after which is the judgment.
With 3 days to live therefore, let us look at the first day. YESTERDAY. We rewind movies, music, events caught on spy cameras and digital information in the form of audio, video or mp3. We are however yet to see someone rewind time. The hymnist says 'time like an ever-rolling stream, bears all who breathe away, they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day (UMH 117 vs. 5).' Under the label 'Memories' posted by Vinspire on March 5th 2009, these are the words written about yesterday: "One of these days is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone!!" How many times have you heard someone say 'If I knew..." "If I could take back what I said," "if I could, I would have..." "how I wish I had..." "had I known..." These are all expressions of the inability to turn back the hands of time. We have done things, said things, not done and not said things, we have missed opportunities, delayed, committed and omitted, we have allowed situations to pass and captured some that we should have let go, we have trod on paths we shouldn't have and acted on impulses we shouldn't have. Yet this is all in the past! Some of our words, thoughts, actions and decisions have led to consequences that we cannot reverse. God may allow those consequences to remind us of what is means to act in the ways we acted, speak in the way we spoke, decide on the way we decided or move in the way we moved. God might allow those consequences as a testimony for us to caution others to better choices. In some situations, though, the consequences speak for themselves because they were too dire to leave behind a living witness. May the good Lord keep us to be alive to testify about our wrong choices of yesterday.
Yesterday is a voided check, it is history, it is unchangeable and irreversible. Yet we can't allow our precious selves to wallow in the failures and hurts of yesterday so much that we are hindered from seeing what new things God is making available to us on a daily basis. Sometimes, guilt eats into our lives so much that we think God is still punishing us for our misdeeds of yesterday. God forgives us but we find it hard to forgive ourselves. Our guilt stems from our subconscious effort to maximize our deeds and continually punish ourselves for ever. STOP NOW!! God has forgiven us through Christ. Don't carry a burden Christ has already rolled in the sea. Leave yesterday to where it belongs - in the past!!

  Discussion: THREE DAYS TO LIVE!

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