A L M A C I A S

DEATH - AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

Sometimes it seems that we tend to forget that we are going to be in this world only for a very short time. We live as if we are going to live forever, and we all know that such is not the case. We all have an appointment with death, and there is no amount of money, power, or influence that can help us cancel that appointment. We know that to be true, as we found out recently when Diana, the Princess of Wales, was suddenly taken from this world. She did not die because of some terrible disease, or because she had already lived a very long life. No, death came to her in the way that it comes to many others - very suddenly. Death can come to any one of us in that same way, and what we need to ask ourselves is, "Are we prepared for that day?" There are some who try to make all the necessary preparations in regard to what kind of funeral they would like to have, where they want their body to be buried, and perhaps what they would like for their survivors to do with whatever they might own. All of this is necessary, but what about their spiritual preparations?

In John 14:1-6, we read concerning what the Lord told His disciples in reference to Heaven. There we find the Lord telling them that they should not be troubled. Apparently His disciples were concerned because the Lord had just told them that He was about to leave them and that where He was going, they could not come at this time. When the disciples heard this, they were troubled that they would soon be separated from Him who had taught them so many things. And that is when the Lord told them that if they believed in God, they should also believe in Him. The Lord also told His disciples that in His Father's house were many mansions and that He was going there to prepare a place for all of them, and that He would come back again for them, so that wherever He was, they would be there also. It is here that we find out from the Son of God Himself that Heaven is a prepared place for those who are prepared to go there. Heaven is awaiting all of those who have made spiritual preparations to be with the Lord forever. No one is going to enter Heaven by accident, or by coincidence, or because he knows someone of importance and influence who can help him enter Heaven. No, a Heavenly home is not gained that way. On the contrary, Heaven is a place prepared only for those who have prepared themselves to go there by leading a righteous life in this present world.