“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” John 5:28-29 NIV

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.¹⁸ Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NIV

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; John 11:23-25 NIV

Introduction

I think most of us believe at some point in our lives, we will die one day. I am of the opinion though that if you ask most people if they are ready to die, they would probably say no especially young people and parents who have young children. No one wants to die living young children behind. It is desire of all parents to see their children become adults and become independent.

Recently, there has been such an increase in people dying from babies to adults. People are dying unexpectedly sending shock waves throughout the communities. As a result of death, people are suffering from grief and sorrow and no matter how long a person may have die, there is still grief and pain. However, the good news is that there is hope and life after death as we will be resurrected.

Be Ready

In the past, we expected people that were diagnosed with some form of illnesses to die soon. However, some of these individuals are living longer. In fact, some of these individuals are getting healed and are very much alive.

You do not have to be sick to die. You may be sick and do not even know and all of sudden you die. Someone may decide they no longer want to live and commit suicide. Someone may kill you either deliberately or accidentally or you yourself may end up getting in accident killing yourself.

Because we do not know how we will die or when we will die, then we need to be ready. The biggest battle anyone can face after the death of a loved one if that loved one did not know Jesus as their personal savior. The Good news is that if your loved one accepted Jesus Christ into his or his life, he or she is in a better place.

The World appears to becoming worst and worst daily and your loved one that die, does not have to face all of these tribulations and trials in this world. With death, there is no more pain, no more suffering and no more bills. With that said, I encourage families to get life insurance, get a will, and ensure your loved ones will not be faced with bills they cannot handle.

Treat them well while they alive

We all miss our loved ones when they die and so while they are alive, treat they well. Spend quality time with them. Learn to forgive one another, learn to love one another. In the event when someone dies, you will have such wonderful memories to live on.  Unfortunately after the death of someone, some of us are so caught up with guilt because we were not on speaking terms with our family and friends, we did not treat them right, we did not forgive them. However, it is too late to reconcile so reconcile now. Sometimes, we only hear good things about someone at funeral. Why wait until they are dead. Document positive things about individuals while they are alive and so when they die, you will have the memories to Cherish and share with others.

Conclusion

I know I do not want to die as yet. Each day I ask God to extend the life of my wife and me to see our children become adults. God can do it. Hezekiah was sick and almost died and God added an additional fifteen years to his life. Even if some of us do not get the additional years, know that there is hope and life after death. Jesus will return one day for us and the dead in Christ will rise first.