“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:20-22‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Lord, if all of us could have but a portion of that faith mentioned in this extract of the scriptures, how the world would be a different place! Today I want to point us towards our faith when faced with death. The world is focused around living as long as possible so that you can do as much as possible in your lifetime. Almost everything is around preserving your ability to live on this planet and do the things of the world. People’s primary focus is to work more, earn more, do more, serve more, gather more, socialise more or build more. Due to these goals, people fear death, and therefore, people go to extreme means not to die (for example, people doing stem cell therapy). But let us look to Jacob; when he was dying, “he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff”. Jacob had understood that death had lost its sting; there was no need to be fearful or to copy the people around him, building large tombs with vast amounts of gold and treasure to take with them into the afterlife. He did not take on the practices of the Egyptian world around him. Instead, he did what a man of faith does. Jacob humbly accepted the portion from God and chose to worship God instead of panicking. When you stop and understand, the Bible tells us we should no longer fear death, for our hope is in the resurrection and the treasures we built in heaven. Therefore, why would a Christian be scared?

Joseph had faith after death, and he knew there would be a time when his people would go into the promised land in fulfilment of the city God had told Abraham. Joseph stated in faith that his bones were to be transported because he knew about the resurrection and the new Zion, so he made a declaration and order in faith, knowing God would be faithful.

An essential element of a faithful Christian’s life will be a release from the fear of death. If we have gotten to know the God of eternity, then we have nothing to fear because, after death, we are with Him. We do not need to fight to stay in this life because we have understood that God is sovereign, and when we all will leave this world, God will still look after those who we have left behind. We believe in God’s character to look after the righteous and the unrighteous. Do you understand now? As per the Bible, there is no reason for us to fear death; like Paul, we should be torn as to wanting to die, for that means to be with God. But, we also are torn to stay because there is much work to do for God, so we endure here awaiting the day to be in heaven with our Lord and King, Christ Jesus.

Today reflect, do you fear death? If so why?