IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE.

If I Should Die Before I Wake

 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken,  or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.  Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.        Eccl. 12:6-7

            People often wonder what heaven is like, but I have never met anyone who died and came back to live on the earth.  A few are mentioned in the New Testament such as Lazarus, and the young girl whom Jesus raised from the dead.  Also, there was a young man who died and was in a funeral procession and Jesus touched him and he came back to life.  The prophet, [Elijah 17:22] prayed and a boy rose from the dead.

            Over the years I have heard stories of people who died and then came back to life and told stories of things they had seen in heaven, including family members and friends who had died earlier. However, there are many scriptures that tell us when you die and go to heaven you will not return to earth. 
            Hebrews 9:27 plainly tells us, “.... it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment”.  God set up this plan from the beginning so a person could only die once.  Then we will be judged for what we did or didn’t do in our lifetime.
            Jesus told a story in Luke 16:26 about a rich man and a beggar. The beggar died and went to heaven, but the rich man died and went to Hell.  He begged for the poor man in heaven to bring him some water, but there was a great gulf between heaven and hell and no one could ever cross the gulf. After death, no one will leave heaven.  Of course Jesus is able to return and we are looking for his coming.
            When King David’s son died, he told his servant. "But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."  He knew he would not see the child on this earth again, but would see him in heaven someday. 
            Throughout the Bible we see great men of God like Daniel, Paul and John who went into a trance and saw things they could not tell about.  In fact, they didn’t know if they were in the Spirit or in the body.  When people say they died and went to heaven, it’s difficult to understand how.  Job 7:9 tells us “Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes, those who die will not come back.” 
            Perhaps this scripture will help explain why the Bible says you can only die once and after that the judgment.   “Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.  Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”  Eccl. 12:6-7   I’m going to give you something to think about.
            While a child is growing in the mother’s womb, it is attached to a cord.  The child is being fed what it needs to live and to grow through this cord.  Once the baby is born, the cord is cut after the birth and the child’s life no longer depends on that cord for survival, but must change to fit in with its new life.
            This scripture explains that when life really ends, the silver cord that God has given us must be loosed or severed from the life we now live so we can move on to our heavenly home.  The other items mentioned like the golden bowl, a broken pitcher and a broke wheel, show the end of life as we know it.  Then our spirit goes back to God who gave it to us in the beginning.
           I have heard a number of stories from people who think they died and came back to live.  Many tell how they hovered over their body and saw family grieving over them.  Some tell of going to a heavenly place of peace and beauty where they are told they cannot stay, but must go back to live on earth.  Could it be their bodies have suffered a terrible ordeal and yet the ‘silver cord’ had not been loosed and so their spirit had to return to their body?
            Can one actually die, go to heaven and return to life here.  Well, Jesus did, but he was God’s son.  Certainly God can show us heavenly things such as he did Paul and John, but they didn’t die and come back to life. 
            The truth is that we never know when our maker will call us home, the best thing we can do is to make sure of our salvation, so when we do die; when the silver cord is cut, we will begin a new life in heaven with our Lord and Savior.