Jobs Is Dead (But We're Still Alive)
Steve Jobs spent his life inventing many technological wonders, polishing them to a very shiny standard, and making a lot of money for his company. Indeed he will be remembered by many for bringing many wonderful gadgets to the world that people have become very envious over. The middle classes of this world have strived each year to earn enough money to buy the newest product from Jobs; he has been the Santa Claus of this world who gives beautiful gifts to little boys and girls, so long as they can hand over the necessary £1000 for them.
Yesterday he died. And today the world mourned their loss. All over Twitter and Facebook, cries of "RIP" filled the streams. May he Rest In Peace.
But I must admit I found it all rather hard to go along with. Because, you see, as a Christian I have to live with a certain truth. Most souls in this world don't really Rest In Peace when they die. Not if Heaven and Hell are real -- and if I thought they weren't I'd have to seriously go back and study my doctrine. Either a soul is rejoicing with Christ and worshipping their Saviour, or they have chosen to spend eternity away from God's presence, at the mercy of the enemy in continuous suffering.
It's not that God punishes people by sending them to Hell for being bad, it's simply that they never chose to be with Him in the first place. And this is a truth that can never be ignored, because its consequences last for eternity; they make our life on Earth seem like a drop in the ocean. Jobs lived 56 years here before his body gave up, but that life was a mere foreword, a precursory comment, to the story of his spirit from this point on.
So here is the thought for today. There is nothing more that can be effected for someone who has departed, we can only make decisions for our own lives. Considering the sheer brevity of life in this body, what do we expect to take with us into eternity, and how then should we live?