"It's Not Life-Threatening"

On this morning's news it was reported that Warren Buffett, the well-known billionaire, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The report quoted Buffett as saying that it isn't "remotely life- threatening." Those words struck me as quite odd because we all have a "life-threatening" condition! We have to admit that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow or the next hour if we really consider our frailty.

What makes an 81 year old say something isn't "remotely life-threatening?" Is it trusting in the abundance of riches, self-sufficiency, power, or prestige? Anyone who has lived long enough has seen the sudden demise of rich and poor, famous and infamous. Death is no respecter of persons and all will one day encounter this final enemy. Alistair Begg stated in one of his sermons that we all have a shelf life, an expiration date; we just don't know what that date is. At 81 I would consider everything as "life-threatening!"

Yes, the truth is that we all have a life-threatening condition. The difference is that some choose to live in ignorance and denial as if it will never happen to them. But those in Christ know the One who has the cure. By His death on the cross and resurrection, Jesus conquered sin and death and He alone holds the keys to life and death. (I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death. - Rev. 1:18)

In James 4:13-15 we read about the wise perspective we should have as we make our future plans:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Yes, each of us have a life-threatening condition but there is no need to fear when we know the One who conquered death and holds the keys.