Death
“Fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15).
There are many who are afraid to die. Life beyond this world holds no hope for them, and to many the unknown afterlife grips them with absolute terror.
I remember an elderly resident of my hometown who, as he neared the end of this life, filled the hospital ward with shrieks of panic and horror. He had been a good-living, kind, and helpful family and community man, but he knew that was not enough as eternity approached.
In contrast, a day or two later, in that same hospital down the hall, I stood by the bedside of an elderly believer as she gently drew her last breaths, and quietly passed from this life to the next. I knew without a doubt that she was, “absent from the body…present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
Centuries ago King David said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4). When we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour we need have no fear of death.