An Invitation to Die

Your unfavourable reaction to this seemingly haunting piece of article is worthy of consideration. Some of you maybe thinking of filing a complaint against this writer for scaring you out of your wits. It’s a hair-raising topic, after all. For who, in his/her right mind, would invite someone to die? And, would you- you who want to live forever, honour this request had you been invited?

I know of some people who have never attended a dead man’s wake because of fear. Often times, this reaction is carried to the extreme that it has become a phobia- NECROPHOBIA- an irrational fear of the dead.

If terror grips you at the mention of death, how much more if you were invited to die?

We may have been invited to different occasions: weddings, birthdays, christenings, etc. But to die? NEVER!!

We may as well ask: WHO IS INVITED TO DIE?

Perhaps our answer would include people who are considered menace to society- murderers, rapists, arsonists, terrorists, thieves and other dangerous persons. Yes, they NEED TO DIE. But the invitation is not only for them.

The request to die is most of all, for US, the living, for those who are alive. For how could you ask the dead to die?

And who is the living? What is it to be ALIVE? Is it to be breathing, eating, drinking, walking, talking, acting, playing? The flowers and the trees, the birds and the bees, the beasts of the field and the fish of the sea,- they all do these functions. They are alive, yes. They are living. But the invitation to die is not for them.

What is to be alive then? To be alive is to be able to respond to the Spirit’s conviction, to feel the touch of God’s hands in our lives, to feel His presence, to see His direction, to hear His call, to follow His voice. To be alive is to grow, to learn, to change for the better.

To be alive is to feel the prick of our conscience whenever we have done something wrong. What is to be alive? To be alive is to be able love without reservation, to be able to understand the humanness of other people, to be able to give the best of ourselves without expecting anything in return.

To be alive is to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation and to say, “Thank You, Jesus for what you have done.” A dead man never reacts, never grows, never learns, never understands, never feels, never appreciates.

Are you alive? How do you know you are alive? If you think you are alive in the truest sense of the word, then the invitation to die is for you.

WHY DO WE HAVE TO DIE?

We pride ourselves with our titles, positions, our families, our race and breeding, our intelligence and social status. But don’t you know that often times we are controlled by those around us and by those whom we consider below us?

We get easily irritated by the slight mistake of our neighbours. We take revenge when our pride is hurt, when people don’t give us what we think we deserve in terms of respect and hospitality. See? They control our emotions.

Something must die within us- pride, anger, fear, hatred, insecurities, envy, jealousy.

Why must we die? John 12:24 says it distinctly: …unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

If this is true with a kernel of wheat, so it is with the death of ourselves-not physical death but death of the works of the flesh in us -things that we, humans tend toward and are contrary to what God has designed for us. GALATIANS 5:19-21.

We must die for continuous growth and profit. And we can only do this as we acknowledge and accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 – Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. (KJV)

I want you to know that God’s invitation to die is in reality an invitation to live – for His glory.

WILL YOU ACCEPT THE INVITATION?