The Wages of Sin
Fitness nut Jack Lalanne died yesterday. He was 96 and looked incredible. Read about his death here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41225595/ns/us_news-life/?gt1=43001
It is not my intention to mock anyone's death, or make light of the obvious grief his wife and children are experiencing right now. My condolences to them.
When I heard the news of his death, however, it simply drove home to me in a powerful way the truth of Hebrews 9:27.
"Just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment."
And 1 Timothy 4:8.
"For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."
Friends, at this time of the year when we bow down to the idols of the NFL, when Christian parents push their children into sports as hard as they can go, when young adults bronze their bodies in salons at the risk of deadly cancers, when Christian beach bums lay nearly naked on vacation hot spots, at this time, we need to be reminded . . .
"The wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23).
God has appointed a day for our death. While I am not encouraging laziness or abuse of our physical bodies through negligence or gluttony, the point is clear. Isn't it?
Jack Lalanne is dead. I hope and pray his soul was in as good a shape as his body (3 John 2). Nothing else matters now, except Jesus, or the conspicuous absence of Jesus, in the fitness guru's life.
We ought to think on these things, beloved.
by Keith McWhorter