The Last Breath

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. – Psalm 139:14-16

A man was relaxing in his recliner, talking and laughing with his family as he watches TV. He sits quietly and drifts off to sleep within five minutes. But he didn’t just drift off to sleep; he slipped from this world into the next as quietly as a shadow. He was getting ready for his daughter’s wedding … until he wasn’t.

The above is not a work of fiction; it actually happened. It is fact that we are not guaranteed our next breath. We tend to take these quiet contented moments for granted. He wasn’t ill; he wasn’t suffering; he merely passed through this world into the next. And we never know when we will simply pass through that door as well.

Unfortunately, there have been killings in this country where that passage has not been quiet or serene; it has been marked by violence – by the ripping away of loved ones by an act of pure evil. People simply getting their groceries are killed by hate. Children who have no thought other than the summer months of fun and no school were violently ripped from the arms of their parents not ever having the chance to live to their full potential.  

The thing we must understand is that our last moment, whether it is in peace or violence, will happen for all of us. We don’t know what calamity or situation is coming around the corner. We somehow act as if we will just keep living with no end in sight. No one stops to think, ‘I need to tell my loved ones what they mean to me now before it’s too late’. Nor that we need forgive those who have hurt us, no matter how hard it is, even if they don’t ask for forgiveness. It is important to keep in my mind how precious life is, because it won’t last on this earth but the decisions we make today will affect where we spend eternity.

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. – 2 Corinthians 6:2

We each have a choice to make today because we aren’t guaranteed a tomorrow. Choose wisely.

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. – John 11:25-26