thoughts
"the death and taxes special"
Passage: "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" I Corinthians 15:54-55
Someone once said that the only two things that can be counted on in life are death and taxes. I wholeheartedly agree as far as taxes are concerned, but I don't really agree as far as death is concerned. Now, I'm not disillusioned; I don't think that we don't die. I just don't think that death is what a lot of people believe that it is. Read on, and you'll see why.
First, the taxes. As we all know, tomorrow is the big day! I attempted to figure mine out. You'd think that a college student who made a pittance compared to practically anyone in the real world would not have a hard time filling out his tax returns. You couldn't be further from the truth.
I had to start by filling out a 1040 (and some schedules thereunto appertaining), because of a couple of forms that I got from school and my place of employment from my summer internship. I should have known that that would be a bad sign.
A couple of hours later, I found myself staring at a number that, frankly, scares me. I do not get a refund. I do not even come close to one. The solution? Let my family's accountant worry about it, because I'm sure that I probably messed up somewhere along the line. I'll try again next year, when I should just get W-2s and nothing else...
Now I can see why everyone hates taxes so.
However, death is another story. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that death is not a part of our lives. What I'm saying is that death doesn't have to hold the pull over us that it does for most.
As a child, I was really afraid of death. Like most people, I didn't like the idea of death at all. And I still don't like the idea of the physical dying...but that's very different from death as a whole. Why?
I Corinthians 15:54-55 provides the answer. Death is not a final act, as I once thought. It is a transition from mortality to immortality, from imperfection to being made perfect in Christ. And why is that?
Because, almost 2000 years ago, there was one who was perfect. He committed no sin, but He died for our sins. Then He did the unthinkable: He showed that death had no power over Him! He arose from the grave, and He lives, even today! He was the one that took the sting from death and victory from the grave. He suffered in death so that when that time comes for us (if the Rapture doesn't occur first), we don't have to worry about death! It's not the end. It's the beginning!
Today is Resurrection Sunday. Christians all over the world are celebrating Jesus' victory over death and the fact that because of Him, we have victory as well!