Bible Question:
Could someone help me , I need to know if the following is in the Bible "He who thinks of Death is dead already." If so where is it??? |
Bible Answer: Thinking of Death. Hello. You asked if this line is in the Bible: "He who thinks of Death is dead already." I have searched for it, and don't see it... Maybe I'm missing it --- except that I don't think it is a Biblical idea. It strikes me that the quote you mention reflects "the power of positive thinking" --- that, if we don't think about bad things, we will live a charmed life. As Christians, we have such a robust faith, we can even look on death without squirming. In fact, I think we are instructed to think about our own deaths. Psalm 90 speaks about the shortness of human life, and asks God to help us to "count our days aright, that we may gain a wise heart." Acknowledging death helps us to be wise and faithful. Paul's hardships brought him close to death, and he says these inspiring words: Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:9) Paul's text, I think, shows that walking in God's power requires that we "die to ourselves" -- see how limited we are, and not trust in our frailty. We are not called to be morbid and dark... but certainly to stare death in the face. "Death, where is thy sting?" --- there is great freedom for LIVING fully, by celebrating God's power over death. Surely the martyrs through the centuries believed this. One last thought. The contemplative traditions have often promoted imagining your own death as a way of understanding, or evaluating, how you are using your life for God. The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius would be an example. Thomas a Kempis' "The Imitation of Christ" would be another, I think. Let us say with Paul, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21) Yours, JRM |