Life expectancy calculators on the internet try to calculate when a person will die. These calculators ask questions to determine when our life will end. Is it possible to estimate when we will die? If yes, then can we be prepared for the death in advance?
Based on US Government statistics, around 700 thousand people die due to heart attacks, and 600 thousand people die due to cancer.
Also, around 200 thousand people die from road accidents as per the same statistics. Not all of them are rash drivers. None of their families expected they would die on that day. Six million people died due to COVID-19 in the past few years. Some claim the official death count of COVID-19 could be much higher than what was reported.
No one expected COVID-19 would kill so many of our dear friends and family members to such a magnitude. It raises the question of whether it is possible to compute how long we will live.
As humans, we have control over many things in our lives. We have options to choose our behavior, make decisions, attitude, job, spouse, etc.
But we do not have control over many other things, such as who are our parents and siblings, what our birthplace is, birth time, and the span of life on earth.
When will I die?
I remember a story I read when I was small. A wise man came to the king and told him he could foretell the future. The king was very interested in his personal and country’s future. The wise man confidently answered all the questions the king asked.
The King was impressed and gave him many gifts. But one man in the king’s court decided to challenge the wise man. He asked the wise man to tell him about his future and, very specifically, how long he would live.
The wise man promptly said he would live for the next 25 years. Immediately, the man in the king’s court took a knife and killed him. The entire court went to absolute silence. In a few seconds, the wise man died.
All his predictions vanished along with him. There is truth in this story, but it has an unpleasant end. None of us can confidently predict how long we will live on Earth and when we will die naturally.
How can I be prepared for my death?
We take pride in the factors we can control in our lives and strive hard to control the elements we can not. When we realize we cannot control all aspects of our lives, we get anxious and worried.
Some search the internet to find out when they will die. But the response they get could be similar to what the wise man predicted. When we try to shape our destiny beyond death, we get more questions than answers.
How can I be better prepared for my death? We need someone who has control over the parameters we do not have control over, who has seen birth and death, genuinely cares for us and loves us unconditionally, and who has proven his genuine love through the sacrifice he has made.
Jesus proved that he could lay down his life and take it back. He died on the cross to take all our sins and curses.
Jesus did the following:
He came to love and to give us life beyond death (eternal life).
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:17
He has the power over death.
I am the living one. I died, but look-I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. – Revelation 1:18
He has the power to lay down his life and take it back again
No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. – John 10:17,18
Though he was God, He humbled himself and genuinely cared
So he (Jesus) got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. – John 13:4,5
How did Jesus turn death into an event and not destiny?
All of us born as humans will die one day. We do not know when, how, and where. But we know death is common to all. Jesus offered a different approach and meaning to death. Death is not an end to our life.
It is another milestone, such as child, toddler, teenager, adult, and old. But our life continues beyond death to eternity. The purpose of human life on earth is to prepare for eternity.
Jesus called living in eternity eternal life. He came to earth two thousand years before to open the gates of eternal life for humanity. The only thing that obstructs eternal life is our sins. Jesus took the sins of humanity on himself by paying a huge price on the cross.
He offered forgiveness to everyone who decided to turn away from his past mistakes. This offer of forgiveness to undeserved sinners like us is called grace. All we are expected to do is receive grace through faith.
Jesus said This is the way to have eternal life-to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. – John 17:3
Preparing for eternal life in Heaven involves daily knowing Jesus and doing what he wants us to do. Jesus offers a firm insurance policy to take us to eternal life through his death and resurrection.
We will all die one day. When we live our lives with Jesus, he will resurrect us once again and invite us to join him in eternity. Eternity in Heaven is a place every human soul longs for.
Shall we take some time to pray to Jesus? He wants to remove all anxieties, fears, and questions about death. He is with you right now. Please place your hand on your heart and call upon the name of Jesus. Pray the prayer below in your own words. Jesus is listening to the prayers.
Dear Jesus, I come to you with a humble heart. I had many questions about my life and death. I was searching to understand when I would die. Thank you for explaining to me the assurance about death and resurrection.
You are my God who died on the cross for my sins. Please come into my life. Take away all the anxieties about death. Remove all the fears. Change my life. Wash me from all my past mistakes. Give me a new heart.
I want to be your child. Fill me with your heavenly peace and joy. Jesus, thank you for everything you have done for me. In Jesus’s mighty name, I pray. Amen.
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