Page 88 - Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2011

Because we made those decisions in advance, on the basis of good stewardship rather than in the
moment of emotional stress, we cut the cost of our burial in half, if not more. Funeral establishments
are most willing to make you a deal you can’t resist if you plan ahead. However, there are no sales if
you wait to the last minute. It is not that we are rich, but rather that we realized the value of planning
ahead. We could have used all that money for other self-gratifying needs like a new car, luxurious
vacation, or a multitude of other desires for the present. However,God commends those who think
about the future and make plans accordingly. Consider these principles:

“GO TO THE ANT, YOU SLUGGARD! CONSIDER HER WAYS AND BE WISE,
WHICH, HAVING NO CAPTAIN, OVERSEER OR RULER, PROVIDES HER SUPPLIES IN THE SUMMER,

AND GATHERS HER FOOD IN THE HARVEST.” Prov 6:6-8

“A GOOD MAN LEAVES AN INHERITANCE TO HIS CHILDREN'S CHILDREN…
THERE IS MUCH FOOD IS IN THE FALLOW GROUND OF THE POOR,
AND FOR LACK OF JUSTICE THERE IS WASTE” Prov 13:22-23

We need to dig up our fallow ground! Pre-plan your funeral. Pay for it in monthly installments if you
must, just as you do for your house and your car. Plow up your fallow ground. There is food there even
for the poor. Look again at the last statement above, “…and for lack of justice (doing what is right)
there is waste.” Everyone of us wastes much money on selfish things. There is food there if you will
cultivate it. Stop living just for the temporal present and plan for the future. Think of others:

“LET NOTHING BE DONE THROUGH SELFISH AMBITION…LET EACH OF YOU LOOKOUT NOT ONLY
FOR HIS OWN INTERESTS, BUT ALSO FOR THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS” Phil. 2:3-4

We live in a land that is obsessed with the need to plan for retirement. We invest carefully in our
coveted IRA’s and investment plans that will provide sufficient money to live on in our old age. Use the
same mentality to prepare properly for the time in which you will leave this world. Think of, and prepare
for those you will leave behind. Even a simple insurance policy purchased while it is affordable will
provide funds for paying that pre-planned departure. The Bible says:

“TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO,
AND WHEN HE IS OLD HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT” Prov 22:6

Our parents taught us by example what is the right thing to do. Prepare for your departure by pre-
planning and pre-paying for your own burial. If it is left to the survivors they may well just decide to
cremate you due to a lack of funds to do otherwise. Let us now consider WHY it is important for a
Christian to bury the body rather than to burn it:

“OR DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS IN YOU, WHOM
YOU HAVE FROM GOD, AND YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN? FOR YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE:

THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GOD’S (PROPERTY).”
1 Cor. 6:19-20

The body of a Christian is God’s property – not our own! Should we then not rely on God’s Word to tell
us what He wants done with our body after we have finished using it as the temple of the Holy Spirit? Is
it now just to be considered some useless thing to be instantly consumed by a destroying fire such as
is done with trash? Perhaps I’m being too harsh with my words, but we must think this thing through.
Having been the temple of God in life, should the body not be likewise honored in death as long as it is
within our power to do so? For a believer, should “saving money” be a deciding factor at all?

“I BESEECH YOU Our life on earth as a follower of Christ is to be one in which “NOW MAY THE
THEREFORE, our bodies become a living, holy, acceptable sacrifice to God. GOD OF PEACE
At the coming of Christ, the believer is to be found sanctified
BRETHREN, BY completely, not just in our spirit or in our soul, but also in our HIMSELF
THE MERCIES OF body. Most of us will perhaps die before the coming of Christ. SANCTIFY YOU
GOD, THAT YOU Then as an act of faith in the plan of God to resurrect our COMPLETELY;
PRESENT YOUR PHYSICAL body, should we not bury it with reverence in AND MAY YOUR
BODIES A LIVING anticipation of that great event? Is this not the very crux of our WHOLE SPIRIT,
SACRIFICE, HOLY, faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ? SOUL AND BODY
ACCEPTABLE TO Take the time to read the 15th Chapter of 1st Corinthians! BE PRESERVED
GOD, WHICH IS BLAMELESS AT
THE COMING OF
YOUR OUR LORD JESUS
REASONABLE
CHRIST.”
SERVICE.” 1 Thess. 5:23
Rom. 12:1