Fear of Death

"In perfect health I went from home,

Not knowing that my race was run,

As flowers grow and then decay,

A sudden death snatched me away.

Little thought my time so short,

In this world to remain,

When from my home I went away,

And hoped to return again.

The stroke of death did end my time,

And cut me off just in my prime,

Short was my life, sharp was my pain,

Great was your loss, much more my gain."

Farewell my wife and brother so dear,

I am not dead, but sleeping here.

My debt is paid, my grave you see,

Therefore prepare to follow me.

"Jesus lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly."

 "One by one life's chain on earth is broken.  One by one it's linged again in heaven."

We see a lot of gravestones this time of year.  Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead this time of year also.  There are "death" things everywhere.  Here, Halloween is for Children, and the Day of the Dead is for adults.  They believe that the spirits return to the earth on this night, and they need to leave an offering for them so they won't take vengence.  While it is treated like a game, under the surface there is real fear among so many; fear of the dead, fear of devils, fear of the unseen spiritual world all around us.

I took the above pictures of an old cemetery not far from here.  There were some of the early English settlers who came here to work on the mines.  As you can see, death was something that brought sorrow, but it was accompanied by faith and hope.  Nearly all of the very old graves had words of hope and joy.  These people lived an incredibly hard life.  We toured the mines they worked in.  Their testimony of hope is written in stone here and in other places as well.  Remember that, while so many others play with death and fear this month, Death holds no sting for those in Christ;  He took that on Himself.  If we belong to Christ, His Spirit dwells in us-there is no greater spirit than His, and we need not fear other spirits.  This is a good time of year to rejoice in our freedom from fear!

1Co 15:55-58  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?  (56)  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.  (57)  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (58)  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.