Dead noses smell no roses

"And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sam. 18:32-33).

David's son was dead. Although he had tried to overthrow his own father, David's heart was filled with grief and anguish over the death of his son. While Absalom lived, David did not have a close relationship with him. Perhaps part of the reason why David wept was that he felt responsible to some degree for his son’s rebellion and was filled with regret. Have you ever known someone who drifted away from God, and later died suddenly? I have and I couldn't help but think that I wish I would have done more to try to reach out to them. I know that God doesn't want (me) us to beat ourselves up about something like this. Ultimately we are all responsible for the decisions and choices that we make.

Although God does not want us to ever be overwhelmed with guilt and condemn ourselves, he does want us to learn from life. We often feel anguish over the death of a friend or loved one. We feel like we could have done more or wish we would have spent more time with them. Dead noses smell no roses. Why don't we feel that same anguish or sense of urgency to do something for those who are alive? One of the reasons is that we have a tendency of sacrificing the eternal for the immediate. We neglect the most important things for what we have to do right now. We think that we have plenty of time, but we don't. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Oh how we need that anguish and sense of urgency for those who are still alive today and headed for a Christ-less eternity. With the same anguish that David had when he wept for Absalom, we ought to cry out to God in prayer for those we know that are without Christ. Is God moving you to reach out to someone you know? Don't put it off. Tomorrow might be too late.