A cliche we sometimes hear repeated is what do you know for sure? The expected answer is death and taxes.

I don’t know that taxes are an absolute certainty for everyone on planet Earth but death certainly is. There is some evidence in the Bible that not everyone will experience physical death if, in fact, they are alive when Jesus returns as He promised. The obvious reality is people are dying every day, every hour and every minute. It seems to me the logical conclusion is, if the Lord tarries, we will all surely die.

Most of us have lived long enough to have lost family and friends in death. When I read this newspaper each day, I note the column that lists the names of the deceased. There are very few days a year when this list does not include one or more persons. I have stood beside the graves of hundreds and hundreds of acquaintances, friends and church members over the years. People die.

The writer of Ecclesiastes said, there is a time to be born and a time to die (Eccl. 3:2). This certainty came about when God confronted Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adam had succumbed to temptation and brought sin upon the human race. God pronounced this judgment on mankind, “in the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, ‘til thou return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: From dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:19)

There is no escaping death. Sooner or later we must all face the moment when the metabolic processes of our physical being will cease. Our hearts will stop. Our brains will cease to function. We will be dead.

I am not trying to be morbid. I take no pleasure in writing about subjects that to some may be disturbing or even depressing. However, I do not want anyone, young or old, to fail to be prepared for death.

We prepare for other events, hurricanes or tornadoes, terrorist attacks or earthquakes. These events may not happen to us but death is a certainty. Some people believe when a person dies there is nothing else. They don’t feel the need to prepare for what happens next. All they feel they need to do is provide a cemetery lot and a will for the disposition of their earthly possessions.

The word of God says death is not the end. There is more. Paul in explaining death said, this corruptible must put on incorruptible and this mortal must put on immortality (I Cor. 15:53). The inference is, we are immortal, and death is in the doorway to something more. He says that death is swallowed up in victory. Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live and whosoever believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26).

I believe it. There is a longing in my innermost being to see and know those believers who have preceded me in death and to see and know those who will follow me in death.

According to the Bible, death for an unbeliever is a tragedy. When this happens it is called the second death or eternal separation from God in a place called hell.

Being prepared for death should not be an option for any thinking person. It is an absolute necessity. The words prescribed by Christ himself has not changed in the 2,000 years since He spoke them.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)

My desire is for everyone to be ready to die. I don’t know anyone for whom I don’t want the inner peace of knowing what is going to happen when you die. I hope every reader will think on these things.