Always Give Yourselves Fully

To The Work Of The Lord

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

We see people’s inner strength when they face medical issues. Patient endurance in the face of physical decline and discomfort. Faith and hope as we end our life journey. We find only hope. Death has lost its power to tyrannize us.

Who can find peace and hope – and even joy – in dying? Only those who are joined by faith to the God of eternity, and who know they have eternal life. For those who have this assurance, death will lose its terror. They can speak with colossal joy of seeing Christ face to face.

Why be afraid of death? Why not rejoice?

For the Christian, dying is the last shadow of earth’s night before heaven’s dawn.

Our Daily Bread – April 23, 2014