Are You Fit to Die?

Watching what we eat, working out, striving to be fit for life but what about being fit to die?

This is a question that keeps being presented to me as I read through Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law.  Here’s a quote from what I read tonight that prompted this blog entry:

“The measure of our love to God, seems in justice to be the measure of our love of every virtue. We are to love and practise it with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. And when we cease to live with this regard to virtue, we live below our nature, and, instead of being able to plead our infirmities, we stand chargeable with negligence.

It is for this reason that we are exhorted to work out our salvation with fear and trembling; because unless our heart and passions are eagerly bent upon the work of our salvation; unless holy fears animate our endeavours, and keep our consciences strict and tender about every part of our duty, constantly examining how we live, and how fit we are to die; we shall in all probability fall into a state of negligence, and sit down in such a course of life, as will never carry us to the rewards of Heaven.”

I have read and re-read those two paragraphs about five times so far.  However, I am sure that I will read over them many more times as I meditate on those words and pray for the grace of God to work in me an urgency and fervor to live my life in such a way that I will be fit to die. 

God Speaks to Us in Our Dreams

I know the title of this blog might get some mixed reactions.  There have been lots of people who have had dreams that were definitely not from God but yet they believed they were and took it and ran with it.  In my experience, when the Lord talks to me through my dreams, it has always been to draw me closer to Him and there is no denying in my mind that it was from God.

Last night's dream is what prompted this blog entry.  Here is a description of the brief yet powerful dream:

My family and I were getting ready to encounter a potentially dangerous situation (I don't remember clearly what the situation was).  I immediately started praying and asking the Lord to protect us and keep us safe.  Then I prayed, "Oh Lord, please don't let any of us die".  As I was praying this, I felt this "question" in my spirit, "Why don't you want to die"?  I didn't give my response much thought, I just very quickly said, "Because I want to be with them".  Then the Lord very clearly asked me "Don't you want to be with Me"?  Then I had an extremely quick picture of me enveloped in God's spiritual arms and a split-second feeling of total love, comfort, contentment, fulfillment and an all around completeness come over me.  It was as if the Lord was showing me in a small, small way what it will be like to be with Him.  In my dream I just sat there and cried.  My husband looked over at me and asked why I was crying but I couldn't answer him through the tears.  Then I woke up.

I haven't been able to get this dream out of my head since I woke up (not that I want to get rid of it).  I just keep meditating on it.  In fact, I'm going to have to write this blog in two parts because as I sit here and try to type what this dream meant, I am unable to express it right now.  So many thoughts are flooding my mind, and so many emotions flooding my soul.  So, in an attempt to keep my entries somewhat short, I will have to end now with, To Be Continued...