The Bible says “it is appointed” that all people will die (Hebrews 9:27).
We don’t have to fear that inevitability. And we don’t have to fill our final weeks or months with invasive, expensive and futile treatments, clinging to this life as if it is the only one there is. God makes clear that the richness of what comes next eclipses this life by many orders of magnitude: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
God also said, through the Apostle Paul, that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). That future existence will be so astounding that, for the most part, this current life will not even “be remembered” (Isaiah 65:17).
If we reject the unrealistic expectations the media have given us about what doctors can accomplish, and if we learn from the experience of the growing number of doctors like Friedlander, Murray and Blecker who don’t have faith in “futile care” end-of-life procedures, then, when the time comes, we might be inclined to opt out of certain procedures—even to accept death as they aim to: with gentle dignity.
For more information about the difficulties of end-of-life care choices, read Trumpetmanaging editor Joel Hilliker’s article “Longing to Live.” To learn more about the Bible’s teaching about medical intervention, request a free copy of Herbert W. Armstrong’s booklet The Plain Truth About Healing.
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