Active Dying

As I write this, my dear friend and her precious family are staring cancer and it's effects square in the face. In an email, her daughter (and also a close-as-a-sister friend) wrote that the doctor questioned if her body was beginning the "active process of dying".
Aside from the obvious sadness at this news, and the tears, and desire to be close to all of them, the phrase "active process of dying" struck me.
We think of death as a state of stagnancy not a process of activity. And yet, in our spiritual life, death is all about an active process.
In Angela Morrow's artical The Journey Towards Death she states that "The dying process usually begins well before death actually occurs." If you're a Christian, the day you acknowledged that you needed a Savior and couldn't save yourself, is the day the active process of dying began.
We don't want to die. Even though it's inevitable, we don't like that we are going to die physically. But in the spiritual realm, it seems even harder. As I pointed out in an earlier blog, we love ourselves and we love our sin. We don't want to give up either. We (I) say I want to live life to the full. But I can't, truly live, until I daily die...daily give up my rights, my "glory", my agenda, for His.
It's tough...this active process of dying. But die we must.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Not an easy process, dying. Losing everything you hold dear...losing who you thought you were and who you expected to become...giving it all up and for what?
Jesus tell us in Revelation 3 "To him who overcomes, I will give the right ot sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne."

**I know that none of these thoughts are new and frankly it feels a little half done, but I'm still processing it. Maybe I'll write more later. By the way, if you want to read some more on irony in our Christian life, check out my friend Jennifers blog: "Getting Down With Jesus" and click on "Beautiful Irony"