Aging in the Grace of God
Heaven is God’s Dwelling Place Leader ’s Guide
Part 3
Apply Your Findings
To prepare for a good death doesn’t mean that you live for death. It is not a death wish—a longing for or fascination with morbidity. Rather, it means to live life so that death comes as a completion, not merely an ending. Such a death-style is, actually, a vigorous yearning for life, for life to the full. Those who sit cross-legged before their own tombstone are free to savor earth’s goodness and bind its wounds. They have been lastingly disabused of the ideal that this world is their home. They are often of much earthly good. In the shadow of the tombstone, the sky shimmers bright.4 Action Point: Instead of avoiding all thoughts of death or using black humor to dispel our fears, Christians are able to live comfortably with the awareness of death. We are able to commit to this life, while longing to be free of suffering and at home in the dwelling place of God. Throughout it all we can be confident that God’s timing is perfect. As you go through this next week, try to be especially conscious of time. Ask yourself what you would want to accomplish if this were to be your last day. Don’t put it off. Think consciously of what you want your completion of this life to look like. Do you need to write some letters, show affirmation, express gratitude? Make a point of thinking about heaven. Allow yourself to become filled with anticipation and excitement. As you look at the “scars” on our earth, remind yourself that there will be a place free of all sin and its consequences. And as you await the coming of Christ, model goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love along with joy and hope. Whew! There’s a lot to do; better get going!
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—Sandy Escontrias is the director of Autumn Saints, a Christ-centered organization whose mission is to provide written and web-based resources on later-life spirituality. These Bible-based materials are designed for use in safe and supportive small groups.
Mark Buchanan, Things Unseen, Living in the Light of Forever (Multnomah Publishers, 2002), p. 203.
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