By Michael E. Brooks

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

In March, 1999 Lamar Plunket and I visited the village of Mauda, in Makwanpur district, Nepal. This is a region of the “middle hills” of Nepal, which reach an altitude of six to eight thousand feet, or perhaps a little more. Though only “hills” in that nation of the massive Himalayas, they are rugged and often quite inhospitable. We spent several days as guests of Tek Bahadur, a Nepali Christian with a family of eleven children who farmed a small area of land at the base of one of the higher hills.

In the summer of 2001 Makwanpur was struck by heavy rains, which in turn led to landslides. Mauda suffered extensive slides, one of which buried Tek Bahadur’s home, killing Tek and all of his family except for one young daughter. Death is not uncommon, and we all experience its sorrow as it takes family members and friends. But death on this scale, so sudden, still surprises, shocks and saddens us. Events like this also cause us to reflect upon our own mortality and the importance of proper priorities.

Death is certain. It is only the timing which we do not know. The Hebrew writer states, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Death is impartial and the fact of death does not constitute judgment against us, or any form of prejudice or discrimination. We see it as unfair and evil. It is not. We are mortal in this flesh and we must all die, except for those who are alive when Jesus returns. Yes, there is something tragic about the simultaneous deaths of whole families or villages in natural disasters. And the deaths of the young offend us with the loss of untapped potential. Yet death itself is not the enemy.

Perhaps I should point out that I am speaking here of physical death, the end of life in this earthly body. There is another way in which the word death is used and that is another subject entirely. John describes the actions of God following the second coming of Christ and the judging of all the dead. “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:14). Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God who made it. It is an eternal agony in darkness, with only evil and hopelessness as companions. This death is not certain for everyone. This death may be avoided, by faith in God and righteous living, for the second death is only for “those who know not God and …obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

As shocking and saddening as the sudden deaths of Tek Bahadur and his family were to me personally, I was comforted by the knowledge of their Christian faith. Their deaths were only of the physical body, that which was certain to come at some point. Though I am not their judge, I have every reason to trust the promises of Jesus who assured us, “whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). Tek Bahadur, his wife, and their responsible children had confessed faith in Jesus. We are greatly comforted.