“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?

Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”

James 4:14

The world trembles when someone famous dies. It’s another stark reminder of the brevity of life, the uncertainty of tomorrow, the one common denominator for all of mankind. No one is immune. “It is appointed unto men once to die…”

We all know that tomorrow is never guaranteed, but it’s not something we think about on a daily basis.

Maybe we should.

Every day, all over the world, people of all ages, races, sexes, and sizes are dying. Their skin color, language, culture, or economic status can’t save them. Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26, 2020, but eight other people died in that helicopter crash too.

Nine people lost their lives; nine people will be missed. And that was only nine people in one moment of time, in one small part of the world.

Based on World Death Rates, on Sunday, there were approximately 152,000 other people in the world who died. During the same hour that Kobe’s helicopter went down, more than 6,000 others perished. In the exact minute that those nine people passed from this earth, almost 100 other people’s souls departed their bodies as well.

I wonder how many of them were caught unaware.

We all know that death is lurking around the corner, but we still pretend that it doesn’t exist. We live each day blissfully ignoring the reality that our lives are fleeting, that our next breath is never promised. When death enters our world—on a grand, public scale or in a tragic, personal one—that illusion is shattered.

For a brief moment, we are awakened, as if from a dream, and we see clearly what we have so easily before ignored.   

The day my son died, I woke up and went to work and drove home like any other day of the week. I listened to music. I talked to friends. I had lunch with my husband. That evening, I don’t even remember if I said hello when I walked through the door. Instead, I briefly complained to my boys about how many drinking glasses they had left on the counter and then went to my office to relax. 

If I had known that one of them would be gone just a few short hours later, what would have I said instead? What would I have done differently?

I grieve for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, for Kobe’s family and for the others whose names are not as well known but whose lives mattered just as much. My heart aches for the mothers, fathers, children, siblings, spouses, relatives and friends who are left behind. They are on a road that I have walked and am still walking, and I know the journey ahead is long and hard.

But I also pray that these deaths are more than a momentary reminder of our own mortality and of the mortality of those we love. There will be a day for each of us, a day when we too will travel from this world and into the next. If you knew you were going on a journey, wouldn’t you pack?  

John 3:16, one of the most famous scriptures of all time says, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Life on this earth is temporary, but life in the next is eternal. The vast majority of us have no idea when we will leave one and head to the other. If you don’t have a life-changing, mind-altering, heart-transforming relationship with Christ, then I beg you not to wait.

For those of us who already know and love the Lord, let’s let Kobe’s death be the catalyst that spurs us into action, to hug our loved ones a little tighter, to be a little kinder, and to tell more people about Christ and His love. We may not know the day or the hour, but let’s guarantee that we won’t leave this world unprepared.

The world may not notice when I pass, but my goal until the last

Is that I leave more than a few sad faces behind

I want to know that when I alone, come to stand before God’s throne

The crowds of heaven cheering there is what I’ll find

I want to hear the Father say, “Welcome home. Come and stay.

Good and faithful servant, You are mine!”