BEFORE YOU DIE – The Church Of Christ, 15 Grey Street, Warri

Text: 2 Timothy 4:6-8

By: Daniel Idogar

BACKGROUND

The last few moments when one is about to die are often the most critical periods of one’s life. There and then, everything flashes in split seconds and only a few things matter.

There and then, if we could look into the minds of such persons, you find them wishing, praying, regretting or asking.

For some, it’s a moment to give their final blessings, for others it’s a time to reveal decades-long secrets, while a few try to right their wrongs (only if they could).

There are few things that are certain in this life and on top of that list is that one day we will die, Heb. 9:27.

But in order to avoid the illusion that we have time in our hands as we so unconsciously do, we ought to do some things right.

While you yet live, and have the power to draw breath into your lungs, is the best opportunity to set things right, not on the death bed.

So, before you die, while it is still day, we must do three things; else we will find ourselves wishing, regretting, and lost at the point of death.

FIND YOUR PURPOSE

There are some questions that we fail to ask ourselves while we are living. And one of them is “Why am I here?”

This is the question that reveals the true purpose of every man on this earth. Purpose precedes creation. Jer. 1:5, Eph. 1:11.

The creator/manufacturer of a product is the determinant of its purpose. If you want to find out the purpose of anything, you don’t ask the product, you ask the creator.

Purpose is not the decision of the product, purpose is the discovery of the product; you don’t decide your purpose, you only discover your purpose. But many of us are yet to discover our purpose on this earth.
Your work/job is not necessarily your purpose. Your ambition is not necessarily your purpose.
What you decide to become is ambition, what God wants you to be is purpose.
Your greatest success as a living being will be to make your purpose become ambition. Your greatest success in life is to take God’s purpose for you and turn it into your ambition.
Finding your purpose isn’t about you. It is about sharing what God gave you to someone else.
The most selfish thing you can do is to live and die with affecting somebody’s life positively.

What is your purpose on this earth? Find it before God calls you home.

DEAL WITH YOUR PAST

Do not carry unfinished business to the grave. Some Christians wrestle with their pasts all through their lives.

Unless the past is dealt with, one is not prepared to live in the present nor to go on into the future.

Unless the past is dealt with, it becomes a haunting memory that saps the strength of the believer so he is unable to honor Christ in his daily life.

Some of us are stuck in the past and it would be disastrous to die in this state. We must elope while we still have breath.

The apostle Paul in Phil. 4:13 talks about forgetting the things that are behind; but “forgetting” is more than just a mental memory loss of the former things. To forget the past you need to understand what the past can do to you and the what you need to do about it.

Your past failures can keep you from advancing. Some people remain where they are even unto death because of past failures. And this plays out in our finances, discipleship, ministry, seed sowing, etc. You just confront these failures while you still live.
Your past success can also hinder your growth. Learn to forget it.
The greatest enemy of progress is your latest success. Your latest success is your past. It has become a past glory. You must celebrate and segregate yourself from it.
The things you’ve lost in the past can alter your faith in God.
Learn to say goodbye to what is lost and give open arms to what is to come.

FIND THE PEACE OF GOD

When you are right there, at the point of death, with only few moments to live, a number of things could come flashing through your mind.

You may think of your businesses, your investments, your wife, your husband, your certificate, your parents, your children, your goals, your future, your plans, your house under construction, etc.

You will think of all these things and then you will be surprised that none of them at that point will be able to give you satisfaction or fulfilment.

There is only one thing you will be looking for at that point. When you stand with the consciousness knowing that death lurks, there is only one thing you will look for, it is called Peace. John 14:27 – The Peace of God.

The things that you are looking for at the point of death is what you should find first in your life and have the privilege of enjoying it.
In that security you pursue, in that variety, in that achievement, in that success, in that fame, in that wealth; all of them are various ways of saying you are looking for one thing –
How come you only find it when you are hours away from your life? Whereas that is what you need even at the start of your life
This Peace has been available even before any of these things. 14:37
You can have it without a car, you can have it without a job, you can have it without a child, you can have it with a spouse.
It is a waste of time to suspend your pursuit for peace until you find a house, or a job or whatever it is that you seek.
None of those things have the power to give you peace. They only give you success. But success doesn’t necessarily bring fulfilment.
When you have peace every other thing is just an added advantage.
No matter what you lose, you did not lose if what you have left is peace.
No matter what you gained, you really lost, if you lost your peace on the way.