We
really don’t know when our time on earth ends or when we will die. But there
are circumstances that we will know.
It was a night time. Outside the hospital room. Sitting along the bench. Waiting for someone’s death. Awkward to say, but it was and we did. The doctor already informed the family that their loved one will die after few hours. They knew the time limit. They were aware of the painful truth that will come. But they got nothing to do but to wait, accept, pray and trust the Lord.
Then his time on earth has ended. He passed away. He died. The family cried. They grieved. And they told stories on how that person was when he was still alive and active and the things he still wanted to do together with his family.
On the wake of that person, I met this girl who told me that she is afraid to die (as what I understand on what she said that “natatakot ako mawala”).
Death, as one pastor said in his preaching, is one word that people try to escape to talk about because they believe that it is a bad topic because it is a bad experience.
Inevitably, every one of us will die. It is part of a human life. All of us who were born will surely experience it. And when that time comes, we may have regrets in our early years that we should have done on earth but are not able to do because it is already our time to leave this world.
Life is as fast as we did not notice it already passed, but God make it long enough for us to enjoy it. God really wants us to enjoy our lives on earth, as the bible says, "So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 8:15 NIV).
Enjoying life at its best does not mean exhausting our energy through the things that give us happiness only for a few moments or for some time (for sure there are things that already come into your mind, so needless to mention any). Real enjoyment of life is way beyond that. These things are fulfilling, yes, but are not life-fulfillment. Real happiness is long-term. It is something that we can only achieve through God’s loving heart and channeled through His people that surround us.
Another pastor said that next to God, his priority is his family (his wife and his children).
We may enjoy our friends’ company (no offense my dearest friends, remember, blood is thicker than water). We go out with them in different places. We do different things and activities. We laugh with them. We have fun. But at the center of our persona, we are still connected to our own family.
Admit it or not, we still long for our family’s presence. We still want to ask our parents’ approval. We still want to ask our siblings’ opinions. They matter to us. They are important to us. They are the ones that we still want to see when we are already bed-ridden. They are the people who we want to be with at the time we feel that it is almost our time to leave. They are our families.
Our time on earth is indefinite; we really don’t know when or how we will die, in what place, in what situation, at what age. But one thing is for sure, we are given enough time for us to feel the real happiness through the family that God has given to us.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21), (I read this first from Max Lucado’s The Alchemist, then I knew from a book The Unseen Essentials that it is a bible verse). It is actually dedicated to our relationship with God, but is used in Unseen Essentials as God’s message to the protagonist that he should invest more of himself to his own family for their reconciliation and reconnection (just an idea, Michael almost had an annulment with his wife, Stephanie, but God used a Christian named Caleb to help their relationship work again, and to have another God’s child be saved. So Michael spent time to be with his children more than he stayed at work. He also took time to open his heart to his wife. He told her his emotions, dreams, frustrations, fears and all the things that covered his own life. Then, as God planned, through His will and Michael’s faith, there was reconciliation between the whole family and they were together again. And they were happy). Treasure here is not the earthly materials or man-made, it is the person’s most important part of his life, his own individuality.
Let emphasize the word TIME. We have 24hours a day. Seven days a week. 365 days a year. It is not bad to spend at least some of your precious time with the people who care for you and you also care about and let them know and feel that they are loved and worthwhile (Well, I don’t condemn the work we have or our passion for it, we have our own priorities, and I respect yours, but be reminded of what Proverbs 30:8-9 (NIV) says “8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God”). In addition, where you set your time, reflects your priority.
The movie The Bucket List also presented the fact that no matter what happiness we may get from earthly things or experiences, we still want to be with our own family, we will still want to be in touch with our loved ones (the two old guys who had cancer and deaths were near spent their time doing the things they never did before, thinking those would give them happiness, but in the end, they realized that they were wrong, so they went home, reconciled with their own families, they were happy and then they died).
We have our own family circumstances. We have our own family problems, issues. And we have our own family. No one can ever replace their place in our lives. And no one can ever fill the happiness that they can provide in our hearts.
Death is a dreadful experience, but we can’t separate our lives from it. We can never escape from it. But death should never be a reason to worry about if we know where we will go after, if we have fulfilled our purpose on earth and if we have enjoyed it at its best with the people whom we know it is worthy to spend with. :)
It was a night time. Outside the hospital room. Sitting along the bench. Waiting for someone’s death. Awkward to say, but it was and we did. The doctor already informed the family that their loved one will die after few hours. They knew the time limit. They were aware of the painful truth that will come. But they got nothing to do but to wait, accept, pray and trust the Lord.
Then his time on earth has ended. He passed away. He died. The family cried. They grieved. And they told stories on how that person was when he was still alive and active and the things he still wanted to do together with his family.
On the wake of that person, I met this girl who told me that she is afraid to die (as what I understand on what she said that “natatakot ako mawala”).
Death, as one pastor said in his preaching, is one word that people try to escape to talk about because they believe that it is a bad topic because it is a bad experience.
Inevitably, every one of us will die. It is part of a human life. All of us who were born will surely experience it. And when that time comes, we may have regrets in our early years that we should have done on earth but are not able to do because it is already our time to leave this world.
Life is as fast as we did not notice it already passed, but God make it long enough for us to enjoy it. God really wants us to enjoy our lives on earth, as the bible says, "So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 8:15 NIV).
Enjoying life at its best does not mean exhausting our energy through the things that give us happiness only for a few moments or for some time (for sure there are things that already come into your mind, so needless to mention any). Real enjoyment of life is way beyond that. These things are fulfilling, yes, but are not life-fulfillment. Real happiness is long-term. It is something that we can only achieve through God’s loving heart and channeled through His people that surround us.
Another pastor said that next to God, his priority is his family (his wife and his children).
We may enjoy our friends’ company (no offense my dearest friends, remember, blood is thicker than water). We go out with them in different places. We do different things and activities. We laugh with them. We have fun. But at the center of our persona, we are still connected to our own family.
Admit it or not, we still long for our family’s presence. We still want to ask our parents’ approval. We still want to ask our siblings’ opinions. They matter to us. They are important to us. They are the ones that we still want to see when we are already bed-ridden. They are the people who we want to be with at the time we feel that it is almost our time to leave. They are our families.
Our time on earth is indefinite; we really don’t know when or how we will die, in what place, in what situation, at what age. But one thing is for sure, we are given enough time for us to feel the real happiness through the family that God has given to us.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21), (I read this first from Max Lucado’s The Alchemist, then I knew from a book The Unseen Essentials that it is a bible verse). It is actually dedicated to our relationship with God, but is used in Unseen Essentials as God’s message to the protagonist that he should invest more of himself to his own family for their reconciliation and reconnection (just an idea, Michael almost had an annulment with his wife, Stephanie, but God used a Christian named Caleb to help their relationship work again, and to have another God’s child be saved. So Michael spent time to be with his children more than he stayed at work. He also took time to open his heart to his wife. He told her his emotions, dreams, frustrations, fears and all the things that covered his own life. Then, as God planned, through His will and Michael’s faith, there was reconciliation between the whole family and they were together again. And they were happy). Treasure here is not the earthly materials or man-made, it is the person’s most important part of his life, his own individuality.
Let emphasize the word TIME. We have 24hours a day. Seven days a week. 365 days a year. It is not bad to spend at least some of your precious time with the people who care for you and you also care about and let them know and feel that they are loved and worthwhile (Well, I don’t condemn the work we have or our passion for it, we have our own priorities, and I respect yours, but be reminded of what Proverbs 30:8-9 (NIV) says “8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God”). In addition, where you set your time, reflects your priority.
The movie The Bucket List also presented the fact that no matter what happiness we may get from earthly things or experiences, we still want to be with our own family, we will still want to be in touch with our loved ones (the two old guys who had cancer and deaths were near spent their time doing the things they never did before, thinking those would give them happiness, but in the end, they realized that they were wrong, so they went home, reconciled with their own families, they were happy and then they died).
We have our own family circumstances. We have our own family problems, issues. And we have our own family. No one can ever replace their place in our lives. And no one can ever fill the happiness that they can provide in our hearts.
Death is a dreadful experience, but we can’t separate our lives from it. We can never escape from it. But death should never be a reason to worry about if we know where we will go after, if we have fulfilled our purpose on earth and if we have enjoyed it at its best with the people whom we know it is worthy to spend with. :)
