James 1:9-11

One thing that's inevitable.
One thing that will come to all.
One thing that everyone will experience.
One thing that has no escape.
DEATH!

Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. James 1:9-11

whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:14

Life is like a flower that perish away. Life is like a vapour that appears for little while and then vanishes away. No one knows how long he or she can live for. No one knows when we'll pass away.

Yet, when you do pass away, what legacy are you leaving behind? What do people remember you for? What have you done with your life? What have you done with Jesus?

It is possible to live under a delusion. You think you are kind, considerate and gracious when you are really not. You think you are building positive stuff into your children when in reality, if you could check with them twenty years later, you really didn't. What if you could read your own obituary? How do people really see you? Here is the story of a man who did.

One morning in 1888 Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, awoke to read his own obituary. The obituary was printed as a result of a simple journalistic error. You see, it was Alfred's brother that had died and the reporter carelessly reported the death of the wrong brother. Any man would be disturbed under the circumstances, but to Alfred the shock was overwhelming because he saw himself as the world saw him.

The "Dynamite King," the great industrialist who had made an immense fortune from explosives. This, as far as the general public was concerned, was the entire purpose of Alfred's life. None of his true intentions to break down the barriers that separated men and ideas for peace were recognized or given serious consideration. He was simply a merchant of death. And for that alone he would be remembered.

As he read the obituary with horror, he resolved to make clear to the world the true meaning and purpose of his life. This could be done through the final disposition of his fortune. His last will and testament--an endowment of five annual prizes for outstanding contributions in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace (the sixth category of economics was added later)--would be the expression of his life's ideals and ultimately would be why we would remember him.

The result was the most valuable of prizes given to those who had done the most for the cause of world peace. It is called today, the "Nobel Peace Prize."

For Alfred Nobel, he left a legacy of being the founder of the Nobel Peace Prize. Today, what legacy are you leaving behind?

Christians, what are you doing for God on this earth? What have you done for Him? Have you been serving Him and giving your time, effort, energy, resources for His work and glory? Have you been living a life that's pleasing to His sight? Have you been living each day in anticipation of His second coming?

Non-Christians, where are you headed for after you die? Heaven or hell? What have you done with Jesus today? Have you rejected Him and think that you can do it by yourself? Have you thought that you can make it to heaven in your own strength and merits? What have you done with the free gift of salvation that God has given you?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. Hebrews 3:15

Open you hearts to receive Jesus today.

Death is real, what preparation have you made yet?