Death, Be Not Proud

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

In some ways, I think that living for Christ is harder than dying for Him… true, most of us dont want to have to experience a painful death (or death at all, really), but death would be the last thing we have to overcome to at last see heaven… whereas with life, we still have to face challenges and obstacles…plus eventual death (unless Jesus comes back first).

David Peyton: I also had been reading Fox’s Book of Marty’s a while back… it is amazing (in a bad way) the persecution the early church endured… another book about martyrs is “Jesus Freaks: Martyrs” by DC Talk; it has martyrs’ stories through the ages… they also have a volume II about Revelutionaries.

It is so inspiring to see how the early church endured their persections; it makes whatever I’m going through seem so trivial… it also though reminds me to pray for fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ who are in Christian-hostile areas worldwide…

~Elisabeth J. Gruber

I’m not in your generation, but your website has rapidly become one of my favorites. Your posts are so encouraging and so challenging…and to me, provide evidence that there is hope in the coming generation. I’ve told everyone I know about your site and encouraged them to bookmark it for their young people.

May the Lord continue to bless you and keep you strong!

Charley

Something that came to mind in regards to living for Christ compared to dying for Him is that while living for Christ we must be dead. Dead to ourselves so He may work through our earthly bodies. Therefore, if we are truly living for Christ, we will already be dead to our own selves and the things around us, so dying for Him will not be a major issue.

Paul even said that he DIED daily.
1 Corinthians 15:31

Thanks so much! All your articles are such blessings!

~a dead Christian