Read: 1 Corinthians 15:50-56

It was sin that made death so frightening. (v. 51 Message)

Having lived with life-shortening health issues for several years, I have wrestled with the question of how to face life when death looms large. How do we live life knowing that it will end?

In Mystical Hope, Cynthia Bourgeault reminds us that Jesus told us we are on a path of “dying before we die.” What does that mean? It means that God the Father is in control of our world. When we live as though we are in control, we deny the most basic reality: God is the king; we are only creatures in God’s kingdom. When we try to wrest power from God, we miss the glory that the Father created for us to share in. Every minute we live, we can either choose to surrender that moment to God (dying before we die) or choose to go our own way, denying the reality that we ultimately die whether we are ready or not.

Choosing to die before we die means letting go. We learn to give up control—first of situations and events, then of people, then of our own life, and finally of our death. Recognizing that we have no control over death is the hardest to accept. We don’t need to be frightened of death. The more we deny it, the less value our life has. When we continually die to death, we also live until we die. —Karen Bables

Prayer: Jesus, help me die to death and live until I die.