And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God make to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.

Genesis 2:8-17

It’s not like we haven’t heard it before. We are born. We live. We die, at least on the earth. But we all have been forgiven by the grace of our Lord Jesus dying for us, and that gives us eternal life.

It is essential to live with the right perspective about life – death follows life, and after death comes judgment. Everyone who trusts Christ for salvation will come forth from the grave and be resurrected. Everyone who passes up that awesome opportunity will great the doom of death. For the unbelieving, death will seal their doom.

Wise is the person who faces up to the certainty of death. And wiser still is the one who prepares for it.

Dying is the last page of time and the first page of eternity.

Our Daily Bread – August 27, 2004