Not Fit

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." "Not fit to live." It's intended to be a shocking phrase. It's not simply, "You deserve to die", but "there is nothing in you that deserves to live." It's a comment on the totality of the person making them unfit for existence.

William Boen was a Quaker born in 1735. In his own words, he wrote about a time when, as a boy, he could be killed by Native Americans. And, in contemplating that possibility, he says, "It was showed me, and I saw plain enough, that I was not fit to die." We get "not fit to live". It's a sad condition. But "not fit to die" ... now that's a scary place to be.

Jesus said, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt 10:28). Under what conditions would God threaten to "destroy both soul and body in hell"? Well, we're all under a sin condition, of course, but it isn't a matter of "fit to live". The Bible plainly teaches that we are declared righteous on the basis of grace through faith, not by works.

Jesus said to "fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell". It is that fear that begins the question, "Am I fit to die?" But that fear has consequences ... or, perhaps better said, results. We all know that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov 9:10), but did you know there are other benefits (as if "wisdom" wasn't enough)? We also read that "The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil" (Prov 8:13), that "The fear of the LORD prolongs life" (Prov 10:27), and that "The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life" (Prov 22:4).

Maybe you feel you're "fit to live", but are you "fit to die"? Do you have a healthy fear of the Lord? Biblically it's not optional. Nor is it trivial. It's the start of everything good. And, properly applied, it solves the entire problem of both "not fit to live" and "not fit to die". Today would be a good day to settle that question.