“I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.” — John 12:24
There’s a generosity behind death that we’re seldom aware of. When you die, you are allowing others to live. The food you would have eaten if you were alive now goes to someone else. The air you would have breathed will be breathed by someone else. You get the picture. If there wasn’t a turnover by death, there’d be no future for the human race.
Maybe death makes us look at the importance of sacrifice, since we’ll all ultimately be giving our lives for others whether we want to or not. The reality of dying makes us focus on how well we’re living. If our intent is to make things better for ourselves and our little circle, then death is indeed the grim reaper. If our intent is to leave this world a little better off than how we found it, then death is a weird type of incentive. It teaches us that we don’t have unlimited time. It also teaches us that if we were meant to ultimately provide for others by our demise, we should be a bit more sacrificial for them while we’re still alive. Perhaps that way death isn’t an enemy so much as it is a gentle sign as to how to live.
And as always, Jesus leads the way. “No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
Hmmm. One way of looking at death.
“We did not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we are borrowing it from our children.”
An old saying which I have always thought as important.