day no. 17,349: the beautiful words that have to wait

"People have beautiful things to say about you, but you must die first." — Fyodor Dostoevsky

We don't build monuments to the prophets until they are dead. When they are alive, we wrestle with them and how uncomfortable their words make us feel. Once they are gone, we can see their point without having to be poked by them. We are only willing to spar with them once they are incapacitated and unable to fight back in real time.

Some people genuinely have beautiful things to say right now, but lack the opportunity or the initiative to tell you. Some people do not have much to say about you, but your death will inspire magnanimity in them and beautiful things will be said, beautiful sentiments that never existed in their heads prior to your passing.

"Well done, good and faithful servant," is reserved for the dead. While those on earth may flatter your memory or finally feel compelled to say the kind things they've always thought, the kindest words one can hear are from Christ. In other words, the best things that can ever be said about you, can only be said about you after you are dead.

Eulogies are literally good words and they only arrive at the end of the story.

day no. 17,330: the correct view of life and death

“Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.” ― Robert E. Lee

Correct views come from somewhere. They are not built in, they are brought in. God is our Creator and Sustainer. He is perfect. His Law is holy, perfect, and good. It teaches us what life should be like and how to navigate things as they are.

John 1:9-10

The true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

We do not know the correct views of life by nature. We cannot conceive them by speculation. They can only be received by revelation. God has revealed Himself to us and so we must walk in His light. If we do, we will live and die well. We won't die wishing we had done differently. 

Psalm 119:105

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Those who walk in the light in this life will never walk in darkness. They will not lay down in the dark. They will walk from this life into eternity with the lamp of Christ to guide them.

Revelation 22:5

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Hear the Word, Believe the Word, Do the Word. The man who does this will hear, "Well done!"

day no. 16,957: to be brave in battle or in bed

“My religious beliefs teach me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time of my death. I do not concern myself with that, but to be always ready whenever it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and all men would be equally brave.” — Stonewall Jackson

It is well with the Christian whether he is in the fight or whether he is saying, "goodnight." He rests in the sovereignty of Christ om waking or sleeping. He has work to do and there is nothing the world can do to stop it. He cannot live a second longer than he wants and he cannot die a moment earlier than evil may plot.

"I know I shall die, and I shall die on time. Therefore, I must make the most of the moments between here and there.” — St. Boniface

There are good works prepared beforehand for each of us. It is not ours to know the hour of our death, but it is ours to know the time of day. We must make the most of the day while there are still time left on the clock.

Ephesians 5:16

Redeem the time, because the days are evil. 

You cannot afford to lose a minute, but you can afford to lose a battle. God does not rob the Christian of his courage by guaranteeing the outcome. For the Christian, the rest is in the obedience, not in the result.

2 Samuel 10:12

Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the Lord do that which seemeth Him good.

The secret things belong to God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children that we may do them by grace through faith with courage in Christ alone. We fight hard to win and leave the score to Sovereignty.

2 Samuel 15:21

And Ittai answered the king, and said, "As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be."

We go with God wherever that may lead. If to death, then may we die with Him that we may rise like Him. If to victory, then may we ride with Him that we may rule well.

Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare ourselves for trial. 

Let us neither be dogs that do not bark, nor silent onlookers, 

nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. 

Instead, where the battle rages, let us find ourselves. 

Run towards the roar of the lion! 

Run towards the roar of battle! 

That is where Christ's most glorious victories shall be won!

— St. Boniface

In Christ, it is always victory. Since He defeated defeat by crucifying the cross, we are free to win in whatever means He has for us. In death, in life, it is always and only Christ.

Romans 14:8

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

day no. 16,750: empty threats and the empty tomb

"The doctor can say, 'Tobacco is death to you,' because the dislike of death can be taken for granted, being a highly democratic institution." — G.K. Chesterton, Eugenics and Other Evils

The threat of death is not an empty one. Graveyards are populated by the dearly departed. While the one attempting to murder you may be withstood, your inevitable death cannot be. You can do your best to keep it at bay, but you cannot keep that tide from rolling in.

2 Samuel 14:14

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Our days are like drips of water.  Our lives are like buckets ever lightening as liquid steadily drains out of the cracks. The days cannot be recovered anymore than the water can be regathered from the ground. Yet even from the ground, the water may rise if God be willing.

Hebrews 9:27

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

Death is inevitable. Everyone is born with a expiration date. Men were made to meet their Maker. Those who by grace and through faith face their Father will die just the once. The second death cannot threaten them. It's threats are as empty as Christ's tomb and defeated by the same, null and void.

Revelation 2:11, 20:6

He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death; Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

day no. 16,723: our production and our passing

"If the Queen had stood for any novel or fantastic imperial claims, the whole would have seemed a nightmare; the whole was successful because she stood, and no one could deny that she stood, for the humblest, the shortest and the most indestructible of human gospels, that when all troubles and troublemongers have had their say, our work can be done till sunset, our life can be lived till death." — G.K. Chesterton, Varied Types

Man was born from trouble as the sparks fly upward (Job 5:7), but some see this as a license to make more trouble than necessary. Troubles we will have, troublemongers we must have none of. Christian government is limited. This limits the amount of trouble it can cause. Because we have troubles, we must have government, but because all have sinned, we must be on guard against governors. It turns out that many of their attempts to address our troubles actually creates more trouble than it addresses. This is why we are to pray for our governors to mind their own beeswax and mind ours a lot less.

1 Timothy 2:1-3

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.

We pray for peace and quiet which begins with a government that doesn't disturb the peace. Kings provide peace for their people most often by simply leaving their people alone. When the government serves as God's deacon of wrath, it shouldn't show up much unless called upon. The kind of State we are called to pray for is one that isn't constantly tripped over or bumped into.

When we have this, we are able to work until we go to bed and live until we go home. Every man should be left to do his own work and his own dying without much interference or involvement from his government. Our production and our passing should be ours.

God, make it so and give us governors with self-control so that we might be free to control our days and our destinies in peace and quiet before Christ, the King. Amen.

day no. 16,695: death is on death row

“If you knew what God knows about death you would clap your listless hands” — George Macdonald

If we knew what God knows, we would laugh a lot more. Not because death isn't as bad as it seems, but because resurrection is more than we can imagine. Death is an enemy, but it is the last one. The one who dies by grace through faith in Christ alone vanquishes his last foe. In dying, all his enemies are slain. There remains no Sabbath rest for death. It will end and never begin again.

Revelation 2:11

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. 

The second death cannot overcome the resurrection. The one who overcomes in Christ cannot be stopped by a second death. For him, that enemy has already been defeated. He is invincible in Christ.

1 John 5:4

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

We overcome the world by believing in the resurrection of Christ. In Him, we are born again into the life of the indestructible God and like Him, we will not be destroyed.

1 Corinthians 15:25-26

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Because Christ reigns, death doesn't. Death is on death row awaiting execution. He will watch all his friends die. He will see his empire eradicated. And then, he will come to his end.

day no. 16,619: one fate for all men

Ecclesiastes 9:3

There is one fate for all men.

All fates do not befall every man, but one particular fate does.

Hebrews 9:27

It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Every one dies but once. Some try to reschedule, but none avoid the appointment.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

The soul that sins shall die. Since all have sinned all will die.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God will faithfully sign and send every paycheck. He will not withhold anyone's wages. Death is the dues of every life lived. But God has provided a gift for those discontent with their wages. He has made a way for the poor in spirit to avoid getting paid. He has cashed the check of sin on the cross and has left a will leaving His righteous life to those who confess their own as unrighteous.

There is one fate for all men. Every flower and forest will fall, but those who previously died to themselves are seed that will spring up again and pull off the ultimate fate and switch.

day no. 16,585: a noble death does not require a noble birth

"Noble death is a treasure which no one is too poor to buy.” — C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle (Roonwit to King Tirian)

Noble death does not require a noble birth nor a privileged entrance guarantee a privileged departure. You cannot be too humble to stand when commanded, but you can be too proud to kneel. You cannot be too penitent to be forgiven, but you can be too confident to ask. A godly legacy is so expensive that only your life can buy it, but so affordable that anyone's life will do.

"A good death is better than a bad life." — Jan Hus

day no. 16,355: whether to Gehenna or the gates of Heaven

Down to Gehenna,

or up to the Throne,

He travels the fastest

who travels alone.

— Rudyard Kipling

A good way to go to Hell is to go it alone. 

Proverbs 16:25

There is a way that seems right to a man,

but its end is the way to death.

If a man has no other source of wisdom than himself, his last step will be into death. He will live according to what he thinks is best and it will mislead him. He will not receive revelation, but will live by speculation. His best guesses, however, won't get him out of the grave to which he goes.

The only way to get to Heaven is to get after it. Those who go to Heaven make a go at it.

“Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.” — Martin Luther

No man can believe or die for you. No man can make his belief your belief so as to compensate or excuse your unbelief and no man can die your death so as to provide a way of escape from death for you. 

No man, that is, save Christ.

Hebrews 9:27-28

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

No man except the God-man, Jesus Christ, can successfully live and die vicariously. He, alone, lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died in order to save us from the lives we've led and the death we deserve. No other man can do this for you. No parent, relative, pastor, or friend -- only Jesus!

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Christ's vicarious atonement alone is victorious. He who walks in Christ alone enters into the fellowship of the Father.

2 Corinthians 13:14

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

day no. 16,192: Jesus came to dismantle the death cult

Hebrews 2:14-15

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Jesus came to dismantle the death cult 

The fear of death is the kind of slavery that seeks to enslave others. It is the kind of fear that is not afraid to terrify others. It is an anxiety that gladly assuages itself by doing to others what they fear could happen to them. The death cult kills a child because it could ruin his mother's life. The death cult euthanizes the elderly for their own good. The death cult quarantines the healthy so that the sick can roam freely. The death cult is at war with death. They fear it. So much so, in fact, that they are willing to kill you if they think it will help them avoid it. They fear the climate changing so they advocate reducing your emissions by eliminating you. They fear overcrowding so they advocate abortion. They fear a virus so they advocate spreading tyranny. They fear a lack of resources so they take yours just in case. The death cult is predicated upon fear. They fear death and are willing to do whatever it takes to try to avoid it. Their only standard is "we don't want to die." They measure everything against that. If it helps their cause, it is on the table, especially if and when it is you on a coroner's table. 

The death cult is right to be afraid, but they are wrong to fear death more than God. God is inescapable. Death does not keep anyone from Christ, it introduces them. 

Jesus came to crush the death cult. He came to end it. He came to overcome and conquer it. Those who fear God more than death have Him as their standard. So much so that some are even martyred because getting familiar with death is preferable to being disloyal to Christ.

Luke 12:4-5

I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

The death cult has an appointment with the Divine. It can kill the body, but it cannot kill body's Maker. They can cancel you, but they cannot cancel the appointment with the Coroner.

day no. 16,118: the present difficulty of having died in the past

Luke 9:23

And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

"But I've already done that!" is always today's excuse. 

One of the biggest obstacles to dying daily is having died yesterday.

One of your greatest hurdles to dying today is remembering how hard it was to die yesterday. 

The present difficulty may be having died in the past.

Yesterday's death can be today's delay.

Never let past obedience excuse present disobedience.

Never allow past accomplishment to color current compromise.

Die daily.

Die again. 

Live forever.

day no. 16,084: the master and margarita, round two

Last evening (7/14/21), I completed my second time through Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. The LAST TIME was about 9 years ago when I was still commuting 2 hrs a day from Story City to Des Moines. About a decade later and I'm still not entirely sure what I just read... again. It's interesting, quirky, hard to follow, very Russian, entertaining, well-written, and more.

There are some sections that slog along and some that fly by due to intrigue. All in all, it's a decent read. Not one I would strongly recommend, but one I would enjoy discussing with someone who has read it. If you're not an avid reader, this isn't the book for you. There are better books if you're only reading every so often.

First of all, it's long and will discourage you by that fact from the git go and there are sections that definitely feel long and that will likely put the nail in the coffin if you even decide to give it a go.

If you don't like Russian literature, this isn't for you. The names and places are often a bit disorienting as the same person can go by multiple names depending on who is referring to them. But if you often make time to read and don't mind feeling a little confused at times, this may be worth tossing into the mix.

Below are some lines I found well-written or thought provoking:

“But what can be done, the one who loves must share the fate of the one he loves.” ― Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

Love is covenantal. It makes promises and extends loyalties. It yokes itself to the beloved and takes upon itself any debts belonging to the beloved. Love marries its destiny to that of the beloved. It binds itself to the fate of the other. It becomes one with the one it loves whether that be for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness or in health.

God so loved the world that He submitted His Son to the fate of the world so that both the world and His Son might be free from fate. The world deserved to die so God died so that the world and He along with it could rise again together. God took upon Himself the fate of the world and when those of the world by grace through faith reciprocate, it shares in the fate of the Beloved by being made fit for eternal joy.

“Cowardice is the most terrible of vices.” ― Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

C.S. Lewis famously pointed out that courage was the sine qua non of all virtue. Bulgakov here states the photo negative of that reality by pointing out that cowardice provides the groundwork for all vice. In all vice, cowardice is present, just as in all virtue, courage must be.

Revelation 21:8

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Cowardice is a sin deserving everlasting death.

“Yes, man is mortal, but that would be only half the trouble. The worst of it is that he's sometimes unexpectedly mortal—there's the trick!” ― Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

This wordsmithing caught my ear the first time around as well. Although in the translation I read it was worded like this...

“It has rightly been said, ‘Man is mortal.’ And sometimes suddenly so.” ― Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

I love that wordplay. Being mortal isn't our biggest problem -- being suddenly mortal is. Knowing that you're going to die someday is a bummer, but discovering yourself to be dying this very instant, all of a sudden, is a bigger bummer. To be mortal is to know you will one day die. To be unexpectedly mortal is be dying, like right now. We all get the heads up that it is somewhere in the future, but for most there is little heads up as to when the future is today.

Hebrews 3:13-15

But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; While it is said, "Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation."

day no. 15,930: a good ol' fashion feast fight

"The most significant thing about any citizen is his artistic attitude towards a holiday and his moral attitude towards a fight -- that is, his way of accepting life and his way of accepting death." -- G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

Feast. Fight. Laugh. Live.

With whom and how we feast and with whom and how we fight are the most important things about us. They reveal the order of our affections and their respective intensities. How we have a ball and how we have a brawl shed light on these. Properly ordered affections are, according to Augustine, the essence of all virtue. Just sentiments are good living. It is unjust when we either withhold affections owed or waste affections out of proportion.

The good, the true, and the lovely determine how we live and what we live for, how we fight, and what we die for. How we throw a party and how we throw a punch reveals our priorities. What we call a good night and what we call a good fight speak volumes about us.

day no. 15,924: cursed twice over

"'When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. The highest type of man may revert to the animal if he leaves the straight road of destiny.' He sat musing for a little with the phial in his hand, looking at the clear liquid within. 'When I have written to this man and told him I hold him criminally responsible for the poisons which he circulates, we will have no more trouble. But it may recur. Others may find a better way. There is danger there–a very real danger to humanity. Consider, Watson, the material, the sensual, the worldly would all prolong their worthless lives. The spiritual would not avoid the call to something higher. It would be the survival of the least fit. What sort of cesspool may not our poor world become?'" -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Creeping Man

Natural attempts to arrive at the supernatural only produce the unnatural. A man attempting to reverse his own curse only curses himself twice over. Nature does not merely take everything from us, it provides us with everything in the first place. We gain wisdom as we lose our hair, by growing older. We gain muscle as we lose our vigor, by hard work. We gain perspective as we lose our eye sight, by hindsight.

Those who survive by resisting nature will be the worst specimens the world produces. They won't be the creme of the crop rising to the top, but the stain at the bottom of the cup that is hard to remove.

Those who accept the world as God made it move on to a better world, while those who reject the world God made have their best days behind them.

Luke 9:24
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

day no. 15,923: the sound of sawing somewhere else

Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen. -- Zechariah 11:2

"When in the forest there is heard the crash of a falling oak, it is a sign that the woodman is abroad, and every tree in the whole company may tremble lest to-morrow the sharp edge of the axe should find it out. We are all like trees marked for the axe, and the fall of one should remind us that for every one, whether great as the cedar, or humble as the fir, the appointed hour is stealing on apace." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

The sound of sawing somewhere else should lead a tree to prepare to be felled. The sight of fallen trees should preach repentance to those still standing. Everyone will one day die and hearing about the death of others should remind us that we are no exception.

Ecclesiastes 7:2

It is better to go to the house of mourning,

than to go to the house of feasting:

for that is the end of all men;

and the living will lay it to his heart.

Do not be a fir tree assuaging your fears by pointing out that the fallen tree was a cedar. The woodsman is no respecter of kinds or types. All trees will come down. Some will be left for last and some will be sought at first, but all will eventually fall. And once they are felled, where they fall is where they will remain and they all fall just the once.

Ecclesiastes 11:3b

If the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north,

in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.

Fallen trees preach repentance to the forest.

Hebrews 9:27

It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

day no. 15,865: good news for criminals

"The gospel is good news for criminals, as the thief on the cross can testify. He knew that he deserved to die and that he still wanted to live." -- Douglas Wilson, A Justice Primer

Faith is the courage to confess that you deserve to die combined with the conviction that the glory of God is worth living for. It is a willingness to die for that which is worth living. It is an acknowledgement of the kindness and the severity of God, the seriousness of sin and the superfluity of salvation. Sin is worse than our depravity and salvation exceeds our audacity. Our situation is far worse than we wish and our salvation is far greater than we dare dream.

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die." -- G.K. Chesterton

Matthew 10:39, 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24, 17:33; John 12:25
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

The Gospel is Good News for criminals who openly confess to their crimes. All have fallen short of the glory of God and committed crimes, but only repentant criminals can be forgiven. Only those who agree that they deserve to die can live. You must admit your crimes in order to remove your condemnation. The Gospel is ONLY Good News for criminals. It is Bad News for those who imagine that they have clean records. The healthy don't make Dr. appointments anymore than the innocent seek clemency. Yet, the sick find healing and criminal find freedom in seeking the Good Physician and our Brother, the Advocate.

day no. 15,816: when our eyes with sleep are girt, be our hearts to Thee alert

"The ancients had a persistent sense of man's helplessness while sleeping, of the kinship of sleep with death, of the devil's cunning in making a man fall when he is defenseless. So they prayed for the protection of the holy angels and their golden weapons, for the heavenly hosts, at the time when Satan would gain power over them. Most remarkable and profound is the ancient church's prayer that when our eyes are closed in sleep God may nevertheless keep our hearts awake. It is the prayer that God may dwell with us and in us even though we are unconscious of His presence, that He may keep our hearts pure and holy in spite of all the cares and temptations of the night, to make our hearts ever alert to hear His call and, like the boy Samuel, answer Him even in the night: 'Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth' (I Sam. 3 : 9). Even in sleep we are in the hands of God or in the power of evil. Even in sleep God can perform His wonders upon us or evil bring us to destruction. So we pray at evening: 

'When our eyes with sleep are girt,
Be our hearts to Thee alert;
Shield us, Lord, with Thy right arm,
Save us from sin's dreadful harm.' - Martin Luther

But over the night and over the day stands the word of the Psalter: 'The day is thine, the night also is thine' (Ps. 74:16)." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Sleep is often used as a euphemism for death because it has so much in common with it.  When we lay ourselves down to sleep at night, we entrust ourselves to our faithful Creator to raise us up from it as our faithful Sustainer come the morning. We entrust our hearts and heads to His protection while we retreat to a place where self-defense is incapacitated. Yet even in our sleep and dreams we can be united to Christ and made to grow in wisdom and faith. Just as we by faith will hand ourselves completely over to God after our death, we practice now by doing the same every evening by laying down our lives when we lay ourselves down to sleep. In physically laying our body down we are acting out and incarnating a spiritual reality of laying ourselves down in the hope of being raised both body and spirit come morning. The trust that the day was His, that the night is and that tomorrow will be no different is practice for the Day when body and soul we will be raised to eternal life.

day no. 15,701: labor and deliverance

Hebrews 11:13

These all died in faith

"Dying in faith looks into the future. They fell asleep, affirming that the Messiah would surely come, and that when he would in the last days appear upon the earth, they would rise from their graves to behold him. To them the pains of death were but the birth-pangs of a better state." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Life begins and ends in similar fashion. Great travail is the prologue to every novel. New life begins by the labor pains that produce it. Conversion is accompanied by great dread and terror descending on a person that produces fear and trembling prior to being raised to new life by grace through faith in Christ. And finally, at death, if one is given the opportunity to see it coming, it is attended by fear and terrors similar to labor pains. There is new life waiting in the wings and in the works, but it must first endure the difficulties of labor before they give way to delight and relief that consumes all the terrors that preceded it.

Pangs are a necessary precursor to rebirth. Without pain, there cannot be new life.

Acts 14:22

Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

day no. 15,700: faith by which to live and die

Hebrews 11:13

These all died in faith

"Faith is as precious to die by as to live by." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

The righteous die in the same way that they live, that is to say, by faith.

Habakkuk 2:4
The righteous shall live by his faith.

There is no way to be righteous in life or in death but by faith. Without faith no one can please God. No one can be righteous but by living in faith. And the one who is righteous in faith will live. He will enter into the eternal life of knowing the Father by faith in the Son through the power of His Spirit. And this changes the way they live out the rest of their days and how they close their eyes on their last one.

Heidelberg Catechism
Q1: What is your only comfort in life and death?

A1: That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.

The righteous do not merely trust Jesus to save them from death when they die, they trust Him for life as they live. Faith is precious in life and in death, in living and in dying, in striving and in sowing, in waking and in sleeping.

day no. 15,687: ancient politics

"Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods." -- The Didache, J.B. Lightfoot translation

Few things could better describe the progressive impulse than death and envy culture, both of which are prohibited by God in His Word and are directly here refuted in one of Christianity's earliest teachings, The Didache. 

It is interesting that The Didache specifically clarifies that abortion and infanticide are examples of murder and that these would specifically be followed by an admonition against covetous envy. Abortion and Socialism defy God's Law. Socialism is institutionalized envy and Abortion is institutionalized murder. Those who promote either do so in direct defiance of God's Law and the clear teachings of the early church. Murder is murder, even if it is an unborn child. Envy is envy even if it is being done by the government. No one can pass a law that nullifies God's. Even if murder is declared health care and envy is declared redistribution, it is still murder and envy; and no caveats are provided by God with respect to the murder of the unborn or the pillaging of  your neighbor's fruitfulness.