What will happen?

There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord . . . will give to me. – 2 Timothy 4:8

In his book Spirit Life, Stuart Briscoe writes, "When I moved to the United States, I was impressed with the number of total strangers who visited my home to wish me well . . . They all sold insurance!

"One day my visitor was talking about the necessity to be prudent in the preparation for all possibilities. ‘If something should happen to you, Mr. Briscoe –’ he started to say, but I interrupted with, ‘Please don’t say that. It upsets me.’ . . . He looked totally bewildered and said, ‘I don’t understand what I said to upset you.’ ‘Then I’ll tell you,’ I replied. ‘It upsets me that you talk about [life’s] only certainty as if it’s a possibility. Death isn’t a possibility, it’s a certainty. You don’t say "if," you say "when," whenever death is the subject.’ Then I added, ‘By the way, when something happens to you, what will really happen?’ "

The apostle Paul was very open about his death (2 TIMOTHY 4:6). He knew that its sting had been removed because Christ paid sin’s penalty on the cross (1 CORINTHIANS 15:55-57). Death would give way to victory (v. 54); he would fully experience Christ’s righteousness; and he would be with Christ (2 CORINTHIANS 5:8). Jesus gives that same confidence to all who trust Him as Savior and Lord. – Dennis J. De Haan

In life’s eventide, at twilight,

At His door I’ll knock and wait;

By the precious love of Jesus

I shall enter heaven’s gate. – Blom

READ: 2 TIMOTHY 4:1-8

Only if we are ready to die are we ready to live.