OUR DAILY BREAD             Tuesday, Feb. 21, 1995
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READ:   1 Corinthians 15:50-58

          WHEN THE END IS A BEGINNING

         "Jesus Christ...has abolished
    death and brought life and immortality
          to light through the gospel."

                               - 2 Timothy 1:10

Our faith in Jesus Christ ought to make a difference
in the way we live -- and in the way we die.

God wants us to live with zest and happiness.  Indeed,
Jesus said He came to offer us abundant life (Jn. 10:10).
Paul too affirmed that God "gives us richly all things
to enjoy" (1 Tim. 6:17).

Yet we can't escape the fact that our days on earth are
numbered.  So it is wise to think about our inevitable
appointment with death (Heb. 9:27).

Is our attitude toward our departure from this world
like that of famous scientist Marie Curie, who with
her husband Pierre discovered radium?  When he was
accidentally killed, she lamented, "It is the end of
everything, everything, everything!"

Our attitude should be radically different.  Because
of our trust in the death-conquering Savior, we can
say as a young German theologian did the night before
the Nazis hanged him in 1945, "For me, this is the
beginning."

For the believer, death is the end of all pain, loneliness,
and sorrow, the end of whatever has made this life less
than abundant, and the beginning of unimaginable blessing
(Rev. 21:1-6).  That prospect enables us to exclaim,
"O Death, where is your sting?"  (1 Cor. 15:55).

                                -- Vernon C. Grounds

        To Him I trust my soul, my dust,
          When flesh and spirit sever;
    The Christ we sing has plucked the sting
            Away from death forever.

                                -- Anon.

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          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
-------------------------------------------
        Christ is the difference
     between hope and hopelessness.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 17-19

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Our Daily Bread,  Copyright 1995,  used by  permission  of Radio Bible
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This copy  redistributed by Larry Holder (larryh@utm.edu) with express
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and lists that have expressly consented to receiving a copy.    <><
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