Alexander the Great was a great king of
Macedonia who fought many battles and won most of them. After one of his conquests, while returning home, he came down with an illness and he knew he was going to die. At that
moment, he sudden came to the realization that powerful army, sharp swords, and wealth all
had no meaning to him. He He told his officers: “I will soon leave this
world. I have three final wishes. You need to carry out what I tell you.” His
generals, in tears, agreed.
1. “My first wish is to have my physicians bring my coffin home
alone.
2. “My second wish is to have you scatter the gold, silver, and
gems from my treasure-house along the path to the tomb when you ship my coffin
to the grave.”
3. “My final wish it to put my hands outside the coffin.”
Everybody was curious to know why but they could not ask him. However, one of his favored general kissed his hand
and asked: “My Majesty, We will follow your instruction. But can you tell us
why you want us to do it this way?” Alexander took a deep breath and said: “I want
everyone to understand the three lessons I have learned."
1. To let my physician carry my coffin alone is to let people
realize that a physician cannot really cure people’s illness. Especially when
they face death, the physicians are powerless. I hope people will learn to
treasure their lives.
2. My
second wish is to tell people not to be like me in pursuing wealth. I spent my
whole life pursuing wealth, but I was wasting my time most of the time.
3. My
third wish to let people understand that I came to this world with empty hands
and I will leave this world also in empty hands.”
After say all these, he closed his eyes and stopped breathing. There are two things that we
never get to choose on this earth. These are Times and Seasons. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 says “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:2 A
time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And
a time to pluck what is planted;
In life, you get to choose which school you
want to attend, who you want to marry, which church you want to attend, what
kind of food you want to eat, the type of songs you like to listen to, etc.,
but you cannot choose the family you will like to be born into or choose the
day and time you depart from this earth. Time is loaned to us. We live on borrowed
time. Everyone has been given a limited amount of time to invest on this earth
by God and one day, the master will ask us how we used the time. Did you invest
it wisely or foolishly?
God has given us control and freewill to use
our time. Some are given short time and they achieve a lot while others are
given long time and they achieve nothing. How are you using your time? Are you
using your time to serve the Lord or you are using it for yourself or fighting
against the Lord? Are you using your time to draw people from the powers of
darkness or drawing them into darkness? There are people who devote their time
to planning evil, they do not want to go to hell alone.
When you use your time to do God’s work
sincerely, when death knocks at your door, you will not fear. You will be ready
to be received into the bosom of God, where there is no pain and suffering, crying
or weeping, no disappointments, no fighting, no work and taxes, or bills o pay. This is the place that we should look forward
to. The disciples of Jesus understood that this world was not their home and they
were just passing through. To them, time was of the essence so they left
everything and went all out to do the work of God. Things of this world didn’t
matter to them. So Paul said, “For me to
live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
Death was nothing
that they feared because they knew they had a better home. In Acts 7:54-60, we
read about the stoning of Stephen to death.
But he, being full of
the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing
at the right hand of God,56 and said, “Look! I see the
heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 Then
they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one
accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and
stoned him. And the
witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.59 And
they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then
he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with
this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
The disciples understood that “death was the
golden key that opens the door to the eternal palace.” They were ready to face
their maker because they lived and did his will on this earth. Will you be
ready to meet the Lord when he calls? It is not too late if you have wasted
most of your time. You can redeem it now. The disciples redeemed the time after
they met Jesus. You can do the same. You cannot buy time. You cannot roll back
time but you can invest the time you have left at a high interest rate to
redeem it. The apostles were determined to redeem the time so every opportunity
they had, they used it to deliver people from darkness into the marvelous light
of God.
Those who are in Christ should always be ready to meet the Lord.
They can truly sing the song by Jim Reeves,
“This world is not my home I'm just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore
Oh Lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore
Oh Lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”
May the desire to go to heaven be your focus in this life! For the Christian, 1 John 5:11-13 says, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and
this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
We can rest reassured that we will spend eternity in
heaven. If you know that you have eternal
life, then you can say with David that “Yea though I walk through the valley of
death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they
comfort me.” In the face of death, you will find comfort in the fact that you
are going to be with the Lord in a better place.
Today, stop and ponder over the fact that you live on a borrowed time and there is the need to use it to do the work of the
Lord with all urgency. If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, say a simple prayer to invite him into your life to be your master. When you have Christ, you will not fear death. You will have life eternal. May the Lord bless
you for hearing from him. Amen!
