Precious Death

Today’s Bible Reading:  Isaiah 4-5; Psalm 115-116; Jude

Journal Entry on a passage from today’s reading:

Topic: Humility and Grace

SCRIPTURE:  Psalm 116:15

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. (Ps 116:15 NIV)

OBSERVATION:

It seems odd to think of death as precious. Death is hard and often painful. Death is the cessation of life. It is the last great struggle of our earthly existence. We understand that we are His children; He created us, and we are precious to Him. However, this verse doesn’t say that the saints who die are precious, but that their death is precious. One of the key operative words here is “saints.” Precious, valuable, of brightness or excellence under the watchful eye of the Lord is end of the earthly life of His “saints”—people who have believed in Him and have followed after His ways.

APPLICATION:

We may better understand God’s perspective in this verse when we understand that as Christians we can identify with what the Apostle Paul said, that for us to be absent from our body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8), and that for us, “…to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). Like a parent watching the passage of their child from the womb—passing from the world of the womb to the new life in their arms—is what death means for us and our Heavenly Father. That death—that passage—is indeed precious.

PRAYER:

Lord, may I live each day of this life abundantly in and for You. Thank You for the assurance that when the day comes that my earthly life is finished, I will pass into the eternal life in your presence that You started in me the moment I received Christ as my Savior.

In the fullness of life today, and in anticipation of eternal life to come. Amen.  -AP