Have you ever seen the section of a magazine or newspaper where someone will ask some random people the same question to see what different answers they might get? They usually include their name, picture and their answer to the question at the top of the page. I saw a parody of this recently that had me literally laughing out loud. The question was, “what scares you the most?” and it was asked of 4 kids. Paul answered, “werewolves.” Nina responded, “sharks.” Dylan answered, “the unstoppable marching of time that is slowly guiding us all towards an inevitable death.” And Catherine’s answer? “Dylan!”
The reality is that though young Dylan’s answer was really pretty creepy, especially coming from a kid, we all understand that his answer was totally accurate. Time is marching on and guiding us to a certain death. Whether that day for someone reading this might be in 80 years or perhaps less than one week, the reality is that death one day will come knocking on each of our doors.
And for all of us to some extent, this uncertainty of when that day will come is, at the very least unnerving and can rightly be described as a type of bondage for some individuals. Looking at Hebrews 2:14-15 we read, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
And while we all understand that no one looks forward to their day of death, as believers we can rejoice in the fact that Christ can deliver people from the bondage of the fear of death. Once we have had a personal encounter with the Lord Himself and have experienced the new birth, we do not have to fear death as we once did but can rejoice in the fact that death is simply a doorway from this life to our eternal home with the Lord. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, “Oh death, where is your sting?”