Many are so busy they forget their most pressing appointment – death. They never see that life can end at any moment.
Others are aware, but death seems too horrible. They hide in many places: parties and movies that help them pretend; jobs that seem important; friends that avoid serious thought; even drink and drugs that twist reality.
Hiding changes nothing. You are flesh and so is your friend. One of you will stand at a funeral; the other will be laid in the ground. If you both pretend, neither will be prepared for such reality. The living one will be heartbroken at the loss. The dead will be gone forever.
“… and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
The spirit goes to its most important meeting.
“For God will bring every deed into judgement” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
“…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
“So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).
That is why Ecclesiastes 7:2 urges us to be wise before our turn comes:
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.
Before you are two choices: You can hide from death’s reality. (How foolish, since it will catch you anyway. How damaging, since it will catch you in the worst way – unprepared.) Or you can decide to be honest. “Take to heart” the truth that flesh is like grass. Your brief life is but one heartbeat from its end. Why not get ready? We prepare for many things in life: education and exams, business and taxes, weddings and careers, old age and retirement. How much more important to prepare for the one event which is most certain – death.