Happy thanksgiving (slightly morbid)

^“Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?” Ecclesiastes 3:21-22

I recently heard of an old man, a deathly ill believer, that for whatever reason it might have been, was not ready to die. On his deathbed he layed unappreciative and frightened at the thought of his own death. Awful. Actually, I couldn’t think of anything more awful than that…to have lived a life full of both spiritual and material blessing, and when the end comes, in your heart of hearts you simply can’t stomach the end. After all, who does he think he is? Fill in the blank with judgemental thoughts…

Then I remembered something, that mere months ago, I got a taste of my own mortality.  Sitting at my desk at work, I felt my heartbeat increase rapidly, a wave of stress in my chest, and noticed my eyesight go blurry for a moment. After a co-worker took me to a nearby clinic, they performed a basic EKG and found no issues. In the aftermath, as I spoke to family and friends, I tried to evaluate my own reaction and mindset. Perhaps God brought that to my attention, as I later listened to this story of the old man, and I remembered distinctly how much I disliked the sensation of losing control – succumbing to something which I have so often denied in song, “…no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me.”

The truth is, in so far as a man experiences sadness, fear, and loss, Jesus did to the nth degree. As he prayed upon the Mount of Olives, tears of blood spoke to an uneasy, anxious, and grieved God. There was not anything happy about the cross for Him. Jesus had friends, supporters, family as well. He had a mother that loved him, a brother, a best friend, and he could perform miracles! It’s safe to say he would have rather not died :

“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:39

It seems to me that an old man who is weak in his death, or a young man full of guilt in his life, has an advocate – He who lived a guiltless life and then died. For then we also might die and then live, abundantly!

If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:12-13

At this point there is wisdom to be gained from the rest of Scripture. Ecclesiastes has a lot of it, I particularly like the above verse. Simple, easy to understand. Is there anything better than for man to enjoy his work? I do enjoy working. Maybe, in this life, a deeper joy comes in knowing there’s nothing else better for me.