Last Words

The uncertainties of life always end with the certainty of death. We know it is there waiting for us. No one knows when their heart will stop. Yet, when the time comes, most individuals have a few last words.

Cardinal Borgia said, “I have provided in the course of my life for everything except death, and now, alas, I am to die unprepared.”

Tony Hancock, a British comedian said, “No one will even know I existed. Nothing to leave behind me. Nothing to pass on. Nobody to mourn me. That’s the bitterest blow of all.”

Elizabeth the First: “All my possessions for one moment of time.”

Phillip III, King of France: “What an account I shall have to give God. How I should like to live otherwise than I have lived.”

Voltaire, a religious skeptic said, “In twenty years Christianity will be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice it took twelve apostles to rear.” Some years later, Voltaire’s house was used by the Geneva Bible Society to print Bibles.

When Jesus died the words of Psalm 31:5 were on his lips, “Into Your hands, Father, I commit my spirit.” As He was ending His life’s work, hanging upon His cross and dying for our sins, He declared His faith, hope, trust and confidence in His Father. There was no fear, no regret, and no questions about life or death. Only the assurance that His spirit was in His Father’s hands.

Prayer: Father, may we face life and death, as Jesus did, knowing that we are secure because we trust in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: Psalm 31:5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.