You want to live.  You want to be at peace.  No one wants to die.  We desire life aggressively.  Because we know we will die, we seek to live as much as possible.

Even though life is rarely pleasant, for each day has sufficient trouble, we prefer our trouble over death.  This is not unreasonable.  As the sky is above the earth, so the desire to live drives us.

But what shall we do while we live?  Shall we chase after pleasure?  You can do that if it so pleases you.  But no gained pleasure has any effect on death.

Pleasure is our will.  We want it so that we can be at peace while we wait for death.  But I am not aware of a single pleasure among men that will give us sufficient peace to offset the pain of death.  Mention one and we will discover together the end of its pleasantness.  Man is completely incapable of providing lasting pleasure.

With that said, there is a pleasure which will last.  It is not the pleasure our body seeks.  For the body lusts after things that give it joy; no matter how temporary or small.  To find fulfillment is to find a pleasure that will last for eternity; therefore overriding the sting of death.

Now I introduce to you the Living God.  He is eternal because what pleases him last forever.  Jesus, His Son, has sacrificed Himself so that we may take part in what pleases His Father.  What the Father desires is called his will.  And as much as we take part in the will of God we find pleasure that will not cave to death.  The body will die but the will of God lives forever.

Admittedly the body will argue against the will of God.  For the body will always surmise that it knows better what is good.  Eating is better than fasting.  Being first is better than being last.  Power and pride is better than humility and service.  Riches are immensely better than poverty.  You can see the war that is sure to ensue.

Jesus teaches the exact opposite of what our body desires.  But our body will enter death and cease.  Our soul will continue on.  The pleasure of the body comes to end.  But the pleasure of God lives forever.

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold it.”

If you want lasting pleasure and peace you must learn to submit yourself to the will of God.  No matter what that means.

You may say you are not prepared.  Perhaps you are not willing to give up the pleasure of the body.  Then by all means die in your pleasure.  The choice is upon every man.

I have laid out, as clearly as possible, the difference between life and death.  I know personally how difficult it is to lay down the desires of the body.  But the peace God gives within my soul is worth every effort, every possible loss, and every possible pleasure.

Believe and submit and you will live.  Continue to trust the body to guide you and you will die.  The choice is obviously yours.

By His Grace