With all the media attention on the late Robin Williams, you would think he was a world leader or had accomplished some great deed. An actor who played many beloved characters on television and in movies, he was also a comedian that made people laugh. He was successful in many ways, but in real life he struggled with drugs and alcohol. If news accounts are accurate, he also suffered from depression. I suggest it wasn’t his life, but the way he died that should be the focus of our attention. Not to dishonor him, but to gain something from this tragic loss. Not knowing his heart, mental state or what happened as his life faded away, let’s take the focus off him and make this a personal reflection.
We don’t have the right to throw our lives away! People have made huge sacrifices and even now are risking their lives so we can live. We may need to sacrifice our life for others some day, but for now we should make sure our life isn’t wasted and for sure can’t throw it away.
Another point, suicide won’t make things better. Though our loved ones will hurt for a while, the unsaid truth will be, “that was a dumb thing to do.” We won’t “show them” or “get them back” for some real or imagined grievance. A lost love will forget us and find someone new. Enemies will be glad we are gone, and our loved one’s pain will eventually fade, but for us suicide is final. Our choices end when we die.
It is such a self-centered waste, if we decide to “end it all” and leave others to deal with the problems and the additional burden of a wasted death. Every life has value and can make positive contributions to this world. At the very least, we shouldn’t make things worse by a cowardly exit.
The biggest problem, we would face eternity having just committed a sin. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Don’t be conned into believing Hell is anything less than “a lake of fire” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28) from which you will never come out. Accepting Jesus as our Savior and turning away from sin frees us from the law of sin and death. Why would we return to sin and death? “GOD is not mocked” (Gal 6:7) and we shouldn’t make the biggest mistake of our life by ending it ourselves. Our life is not ours to throw away.
The Bible tells us “To live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21) but it doesn’t mean we “gain” from killing ourselves. It means the opposite. For us “to live” is Christ’s decision. Only He has the right to determine when we die. We shouldn’t fear death, but our life is sacred to Christ, and it should be to us as well. When Jesus mentioned a man willing to die for a friend, that life is like a prized possession someone is willing to give up for others. He viewed it as a sacrifice, like His own sacrifice for us. Jesus bought your salvation by allowing his life to be taken. “You were bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:20) you are not your own.
Wayne Lance (2014) – That’s Good News to Share!