Deaths.

What comes to mind when you think death?
so many....


naturally you think of a physical death. a person goes on to the afterlife. no longer here on this earth. you usually have a funeral for the living and a graveside service. 
            even though they are phyiscally gone you have the memories of them to comfort you.


i have been blessed not to experience much phyiscal death. a great grandfather, a great grandmother, and grandfather, and grandmother. even though i never wanted them to die there death wasn't to hard for me to accept. 
......but when the news of a fellow classmate, someone i graduated with, dies it hit me in a different way, a sadden way, a disbelief way.  how can this be?
                  how can some one 37 years old die, in his sleep no less, he wasn't old, i am not old. in my eyes he was to young to go, he leaves behind a wife, a son, his parents, a host of friends,                                                                 so much more to see and do on this earth.
a comedian, he was, he had so many more jokes to tell, so many more to make laugh....
it seems unfair. it seems so senseless for God to take a life that was so young.                                  but that is part of His plan. as i type this i hear my dad say "life's not fair!" so now to me life seems a little more precious, a little more urgent to live for God. 

there are other deaths ... death of friendships, death of relationships, death of ____________.(you fill in the blank)
              those deaths leave us empty, sad even more so than a physical death. because you can see the person you know they are out there and it is or could possibly be fixable.                              ..... but some deaths come in order for us to die daily. it all comes back the the Father. it has to.

which leads me to the next death.             a fleshly death.  
                              this death is a daily death.
 dying to the flesh daily.
i tell you from my experience it is so hard to do. for me it is needs to be every minute, shoot every second!                        i to die to self is to live for Him. 
 I affirm, brethren, by boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I die daily. 
                                                                                                I Corinthinans15:31.
..... i know the world offers so much more immediately but i have to say the more i want is in Him, in his Kingdom. this death is a forever death. forever we have to die daily to live for him. it's hard i know but is so worth it.

today i choose to die daily.
now it won't be easy and i probably wont be able to get it right the first hour but thank  goodness we have a merciful Father. a gracious father is quick to forgive and move us on down the path.
 so i choose to die daily.