Being Prepared to Die

The most poignant lesson I learned this week came from an interview on the podcast "Follow Him" with Dr. S. Michael Wilcox. He taught that D&C 135 teaches us principles about how we can be ready to die whenever we are called back to our heavenly home. Here are some of the principles he taught from section 135.

-we want to die loving others, having shown loyalty in our relationships (v. 3)

-we want to die feeling “calm as a summer’s morning” (v. 4)

-we want to die having “a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men.” (v. 4)

-we want to “die innocent” (v. 4), which means we die having given our best effort in building the Kingdom of God.

-we want to die with a desire to continue serving in God's kingdom on earth (Joseph Smith papers)

-we want to die having the scriptures close to our hearts (Hyrum’s example, v. 4)

-we want to die knowing that we have been faithful regardless of whether or not people have shown charity towards us (v. 5)

-we want to die knowing that we haven’t spotted Christ’s garments with our blood (v. 5). We want to have played a part in being a solution to the world’s problems. 

-we want to die understanding the law of sacrifice (A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, Hymn 29, sung by John Taylor in Carthage Jail, at the request of Joseph Smith)

I loved reading these verses and having my eyes opened to another perspective of what it means to live; to understand that we are living our lives in such a way that we are prepared to die. He (Bro. Wilcox) also shared lessons we can learn by studying the death of Jesus Christ: He died while offering forgiveness to others, comforting others, and in obedience to His Father. What a powerful way to learn about life as we look closely at how these great men died.