When people die they usually have dying words or last words. I was struck by Zechariah’s, son of Jehoiada the priest, last words; “may the LORD see this and call you to account” 2 Chron 24:22. David’s last words to Solomon were “do not let his grey hair go down in peace”1 Kings 2: 6. Both of these are saying the same thing in different ways- The first- LORD pay him back. The second –you kill him. So different to the words of Jesus- “forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing” Lk 23: 34 and Stephens words “don’t hold this against them” Acts 7: 60. Whether we deal with people who hurt us in life, and carry that to our death, 1 Kings 2: 9 or whether we are not vengeful at all; the issue does remain, the LORD will avenge Deut 32: 35; it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb 10: 31. These are last words of 4 dying people. I am sure that a lot of people have hurt you. Many people have brought harm and hardship to others- knowingly, with clear sight, just oppressing the people Ex 1: 11. Pushing them into the oppression of harsh laws Ex 5: 7, and others, whose voices are not listened to, are driven to suicide 2 Sam 17: 23. And all of this is God’s plan Is 37: 26. Good voices rejected 1 Kings 12: 8; it is all God’s plan 1 Kings 12: 15. And to ask yourself the question …why…has no value in it. In this time of plagues sent by God Ex 9: 14, we try to understand the ways of God, but we cannot Is 55: 8. The answers of certain things are known by God alone Deut 29: 29. But what we do know is when we lift up the Name of Jesus Jn 12: 32, he will find ways to bring people to himself. He invents ways to bring people to himself 2 Sam 14: 14. We must all die Heb 9: 27. We must all die in different ways Jer 15: 2. Of course ballooning or bungee jumping is not in the Bible, nor is the coronanew (now old) virus in the Bible; but it is clear we must die, how we must die Lk 13: 1-5. These things are written before we are born Job 14: 5. It is not a matter of accidents, murder, plagues how we die Lk 13:1-5; the ultimate question is; did we repentant Lk 13:1-5? So, life is not about the way we lived, what we had, assets we acquired Lk 12: 15, for we came with nothing and we leave with nothing Job 1: 21. Life has a reason, and a purpose Ecc 12: 13, to show us, with an eternal cctv replay, if we did the only thing that matters in our life; did we fear God, keep his commandments Ecc 12: 13 and did we turn to Jesus to be saved Acts 2: 21? And even if we know all these things, even if we know the Scriptures, do we really think we can be saved by knowing these Jn 5: 39? No. Yet, by knowing more and more of these, we place ourselves under greater accountability James 3: 1. Accountability for thinking properly Lk 12: 57, and then this is a part of us Jn 15: 4, so that our final words would be not vengeful, but trusting God Lk 23: 46.
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