How to be sure you have a light on at the moment of your death?

It is especially important for the Orthodox Christian to have a light at his head at the moment of death. It is a tradition that wants to emphasize the need to be in the Light of God at the moment of death. Only the presence of a candle cannot ensure your entry into the light of God, especially if you have not lived life in His light. By this message I want to advise you how to light the light of God and how to keep it burning until the moment of death and thus enter the Kingdom of Heaven which is full of light.

Come to Jesus – The light of the world

The Pharisees, who claimed to strictly observe God’s law, once caught a woman in fornication and brought her to the Lord Jesus to tempt him. Although they claimed to live in the light, they brought only the woman and were biased, taking the side of the immoral man who committed adultery with that woman because they hid him and protected him from the punishment he deserved. After Jesus rebuked them for their hypocrisy and wickedness in that they were ready to kill that woman, the Savior showed mercy to her and sent her home in peace, telling her not to sin anymore. Immediately after that: 

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12 NASB) 

By this statement the Lord called to Him the woman caught in fornication, and the hypocritical Pharisees, and all who live in sin, that is, in darkness. Whoever comes to the Lord Jesus to follow Him in obedience will be delivered from sin and darkness and will have the light of life. Come to Jesus too so that you will no longer be in darkness but have the light of your life lit.

Walk in the Light

The Apostle John seems to have spoken most of the light, and in the First Epistle he wrote:

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10 NASB)

If you are a Christian, you must live in light and holiness, according to God’s Word. If you say you are a Christian but live in envy, drunkenness, wickedness, immorality, etc. you are in darkness, you are lying and you are not living the truth. Not even the biggest and most beautiful candle lit at the moment of death will help you because God also says in the Bible:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NASB)

Maybe you’re in your prime, and it never occurred to you that one day you might die. I wish for you to live a beautiful and long life, full of happiness and fulfillment. But be prepared for the moment of death. Turn on the Light in your life and then walk in this Light!

Translated by Didina Vicliuc