I went to a funeral yesterday. The young man who died was only in his twenties. His life had been a difficult one with serious personal health issues and a family that was in the throes of drug addiction and gang affiliation.
Yet this young man had because of the many challenges he had faced been determined to make the most of life. To love his family and to appreciate the people he met. He did his best to acknowledge those who had helped and supported him along the path of the journey that was his life.
My life has been a charmed life. My problems have been tiny by comparison to the challenges this young man faced on a daily basis. Attending the funeral of this young man who died too young opened my eyes to the aspects of life that really matter.
Throughout my life, I have worried about bible prophecy and the coming of the End Times. At times I have lost sight of the value of a human life. It is easy to justify the ravages of war without counting the cost in human suffering and death. It is easy to look at person and make judgements about them without walking a step in their shoes.
Occasionally, it is pertinent to revisit prophecy. When 9/11 happened and the world began to change. In recent years with the Covid Epidemic, and recently with the second Trump Presidency, the Gaza War and now with the Israel and Iran 12 Day War. It has been time to consider how world events might fit into the biblical view of this time.
However, it is important to never use prophecy to devalue human life. Everyone who lives is valuable in the eyes of God. Many have died in the war over Gaza and it would be easy to say that they hate God's people Israel and therefore deserve it. This is not really the case. The needless killing of innocent women and children is never justified and you cannot tell me that God endorses this approach to solving a conflict.
This is particularly the case with Israel because they rejected the Savior. If they repented and accepted Jesus Christ, then as the Children of God they would be instantly forgiven and restored. There would be no further need for an endless internal war with the Palestinians or the rest of the Middle East as God would settle all of those issues for them.
Unfortunately, prophecy tells that Israel is going to have to go the long route to come to that realisation and the entire world is going to suffer the pangs of the judgement time. Many will die needlessly and this could be avoided if only the world would repent and believe on the only begotten Son of God gaining the forgiveness of sin and eternal life in the process.
So, what can we take out of all of this then. Unfortunately, we live in a world at war. A war where there is a battle for the hearts and minds of men and women. A war many don't realise is happening at all. Some are fortunate enough to have the wealth or the moral values to avoid the worst of it but still never understand that it is not about this life but the next one. Other's like the family of the young man who died are caught up in the mayhem of drugs and the poverty of life that it imparts. They know only sadness and the fatigue of hoping for something better but not knowing how to obtain it.
In the end it is very simple. They need deliverance and there is only one who can bring it to them. There is only one who can wrest us from the hands of the Satan the evil one, the prince of darkness and the prince of this world.
The deliverer is called Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the only begotten Son of God. Whoever you are and wherever you are, there is only one name under Heaven by which you must be saved and that is the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Regardless of the troubles you face or what the life you live looks like. The battle you face is actually about whether you will avoid the second death and live to reign forever with God and His Son, Jesus Christ. To do this you need only repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, for the forgiveness of sin and to receive the Holy Spirit. If you believe on Jesus you will not perish but have everlasting life.
As to the dear young man who passed away. My prayer is the God met him as he lay in hospital and that he called on the name of the Lord, for it says that all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. I hope to see him one day, across the river with the Lord in the Kingdom of God.
Remember my friends, we are people and all people are important to the Lord our God. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him."
From <https://biblehub.com/nasb_/john/3.htm>
