Those who are ready to be with Jesus

But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" Acts 7:55-56

Teaching about the Christian life is about—well, living. And well it should be. But there is an important aspect of the Christian life that we all will experience that is of no less significance. Dying. May we live well that we may die well.

Stephen, “being full of the Holy Spirit” died well. It certainly was not pleasant, being stoned to death as a martyr by an angry mob, but spiritually, he was ready to be with Jesus. I pray that none reading this will drink from the bitter cup of martyrdom, but I pray that we will all die, “full of the Holy Spirit,” fully ready to be with Jesus.

The key, of course is “being full of the Holy Spirit,” and I mean that in two senses. First, being born again, at which point all of God’s children are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Second, following the Holy Spirit’s lead in daily living. May the Spirit not only be present in our lives, but may we be submitted to Him as the President of our lives.

Being a Christian does not guarantee that the dying experience will be easy for all. In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, when the two main characters cross the river—symbolizing their deaths—their crossings were different. Christian was arguably stronger in life than was Hopeful. But in death (at their crossing), Christian had a more difficult time than Hopeful. Yet though their deaths were not the same, their destinations were.

Let us seek to live well. And let us pray that we will die well—regardless of the ease or difficulty with which we cross over. May we be “full of the Holy Spirit,” ready to be with Jesus at last!