Should Christians Fight to Live?

I had someone cancel a lunch appointment with me this week. He has a friend who recently lost his wife AND is suffering through the late stages of cancer. The man is a believer, but according to my friend, he is ready to "give up on life." I'll be honest with you...I can see the temptation.

This sparks an important question: Should Christians fight so hard to live? Why take on weeks of debilitating chemo or radiation in order to spend a few more years on planet earth, when God has offered us a perfect paradise?

My opinion is nothing compared to the Bible, and God's Word is not silent on this issue. God says in Exodus 20:12 to honor your parents so you will "live long in the land." So a long life is considered a blessing, even in light of a Heaven that is waiting for us.

All throughout the scriptures, many people sought and received medical treatment for ailments, and they were not chastised for doing so. In one instance, King Hezekiah was given a terminal diagnosis that put him in tears. But he prayed and asked God to spare his life, and God gave him fifteen more years. The doctors used a different medical treatment and Hezekiah was cured. Without that prayer or procedure, Hezekiah's influence would have ended.

It seems the issue comes down to why you even want to live. Do you see your life as a continuation of service to the Lord or to yourself? Google even has an employee whose sole job is to find companies that can extend life, push back death, and even cause people to celebrate their 500th birthday! (And you thought traffic was bad now?) But his purpose is not to give more years to God, but more years to self. Even if mankind could push back death, death doesn't give up so easily (Hebrews 9:27).

I pray regularly that God will give my wife and I a long life together, with good health, living in our own home. Do I pray it because I fear dying? No, but so that God would allow us to be a witness and impact on my children's children and perhaps even their children.

So let us not fear death, especially as believers, knowing that death is our entrance to Heaven. But let us not hasten it either, choosing to revere life and the opportunity God has given us to serve Him here. Eternity isn't going anywhere.