What if you discovered that you only had a short time to live? How would you react? Would you face the prospect of death with dread and horror? Would your faith in the Lord give you comfort?
I’d like to think that I would follow my mother’s example. She was hospitalized when her lungs began to fail. Her body had shriveled down to skin and bones, and she died in that hospital soon after her 90th birthday. My mother knew she was facing death, yet she faced it with courage and faith. She looked forward to being with her Lord in heaven.
I vividly recall visiting her bed and hearing her speaking of “the Lord” to anyone who would listen. At one point she evangelized my brother and I with the question: “Do you have faith in the Lord?” My mother wanted to be sure we were right with God before she went home.
Towards the end of his life Scottish Puritan Andrew Bonar wrote:
Yesterday and today I have had some glimpses within the veil, as if to prepare me for what may now soon come. It is very solemn to find myself near the threshold of Eternity, my ministry nearly done, and my long life coming to its close. Never was Christ to me more precious than He is now.
Bonar followed the long tradition of Puritans who loved Christ and Scripture. Joel Beeke gives us a few reasons why we should read these Puritans. Their entire lives were Christocentric yet practical. At one point Beeke writes:
Puritan writings show how to live in two worlds. The Puritans said we should have heaven “in our eye” throughout our earthly pilgrimage. They took seriously the New Testament passages that say we must keep the “hope of glory” before our minds to guide and shape our lives here on earth. They viewed this life as “the gymnasium and dressing room where we are prepared for heaven,” teaching us that preparation for death is the first step in learning to truly live…
Douglas Taylor (1948-2014) benefited from the Puritans as well. Taylor was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer. In 2011 he began a daily blog of devotional thoughts on his journey toward Eternity. These blogs have been made into the book; I Shall Not Die, But Live.
You can still read these wonderfully edifying blogs at Works Worth Declaring. The final entry is called So He Bringeth Them To Their Desired Haven. It contains the following poem by Charles Wesley:
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Safe into the haven guide;
Till the storm of life is past;
O receive my soul at last.
Addendum
For more on Andrew Bonar and death and bereavement, see the following two videos. They are worth watching if you have the time.
Bereavement I: Comfort in Grief
Bereavement 2: Comfort in Grief
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