When Walter Bouman, a retired professor, learned that the cancer in his body had spread and that he had perhaps 9 months to live, he pondered many things. One was comedian Johnny Carson’s quip: “It is true that for several days after you die, your hair and fingernails keep on growing, but the phone calls taper off.” He found that humour to be a wonderful tonic, but it was something far deeper that sustained his soul.

In Bouman’s newspaper column he wrote of his greatest source of encouragement: “The Christian good news is that Jesus of Nazareth has been raised from death, that death no longer has dominion over Him. I have bet my living, and now I am called to bet my dying, that Jesus will have the last word.”

In John 11 we read what Jesus said to Martha, a close friend who was grieving the death of her brother. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (vv.25-26).

For each ‘today’ we are given, and for the inevitable ‘tomorrow’ that will come, we don’t have to be afraid. Jesus Christ is with all who trust Him, and He will have the last word.

Because Jesus has risen from the dead, He has the last word in life and in death.

Author

David C. McCasland

Topics

Our Daily Bread