Guidance Unto and Beyond Death

UV 575/10,000 Guidance unto and beyond Death Psalms 48 v 14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death There is a Delhi police sponsored ad showing the “Hutch ad” pug dog squatting in front of its master’s gravestone, saying “ Don’t use your cell phone while driving as I can’t follow you everywhere.” But, God not just goes ahead of us, He also stays with us and follows us everywhere unto death and beyond. Time is not an interruption in eternity. The dimension of time runs concurrently with eternity and merges with it. Therefore, He is our God before time, during our lifetime and beyond forever. He both resides in us and presides over our life. He is the spiritual manager and overseer of our lives. God is our coach, guide, mentor and counselor. He gives us guidance 360 degrees and 24x7x365. He coaches us or trains us in the ways of the present life. He also prepares us for eternity. Death is the iron curtain between earth and Heaven. It is impenetrable. Yet, the Word of God gives us a good glimpse of Heaven: The same Psalm speaks of Zion or the city of God being beautiful in situation. The city is full of palaces. The kingdom of God is a kingdom in which every citizen is a king. Hence, every citizen lives in a palace. The Lord guides us to the point of death by helping us keep an eye on our prize in eternity. He imparts an eternal perspective to us. He guides us in comparing the present lot with the future and to choose the future good over the present. This is the essence of spiritual intelligence and spiritual management. Each uni-verse reveals a principle of spiritual management where spirit takes precedence over mind and mind over body. We need to seek the guidance of the Lord from moment to moment, hour to hour and day to day. We need to lean on Him for wisdom and strength to tackle the challenges and dilemmas of daily living. Jesus proved Himself faithful to us unto the point of death. His Resurrection and the post-Resurrection ministry of Jesus proved that He is faithful to us beyond the point of death. As human beings we tend to leave the Lord out of our decision- making in mundane or practical matters. We seem to think He is not interested in our physical, emotional, professional or financial well being. But Jesus, asking the disciples to cast their net on the other side and even fried fish to satisfy their physical hunger before they reached the shore, shows how practically involved the Lord is in our daily lives and in the meeting of our need. Prateep V Philip