Kobe Bryant’s Passing: One Thing That Doesn’t Discriminate

This weekend, the world was rocked by the news of Kobe Bryant’s tragic, untimely death. Nine people were killed, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter and seven others in a helicopter crash.  The impact was blamed on bad weather caused by dense fog in Calabasas, CA.  He leaves behind a wife and three daughters. To say this was a heartbreaking event is a complete understatement.

Kobe Bryant was a household name, a record-breaker and legend in his field, and although he was a well-known celebrity, he and everyone else on board were human-beings.  And because they were human beings like you and me, what this has made many of us examine, is the quickness of life—how brief it truly is.  Not only that but the value of human life.

There’s a book in the Bible that really grips my heart emotionally because of the genuine, heartfelt expression of life lessons learned, and that is the book of Ecclesiastes.  It was written by King Solomon, the wisest (until Jesus) and the richest man who ever lived.  He had it all…everything you could ever imagine.  Solomon even admitted that everything he set his eyes to get…he got! (Ecclesiastes 2:10). Yet, at the end of the day, he realized that all of it was vanity and chasing after the wind—you have it, then you don’t.  But all of which meant nothing compared to life, loving God and keeping His instructions (Ecclesiastes 12).  

King Solomon also mentions in the book of Proverbs to never to boast about tomorrow, because one never knows what tomorrow will bring (or if tomorrow will come for them at all).  Life is the greatest gift, which is why it must be cherished—this includes cherishing the life of another.

What is more important than human life besides God, Himself? The Lord cherishes us so much that He created the earth, land, seas, and animals for us, giving us dominion over them all (Genesis 1:1-28)!  He made us in His image, and that’s something never to be taken lightly. The Lord found us worthy to possess His very Own Spirit, as well as thought we were worth dying for—and so He did!

Tomorrow isn’t promised for you nor me, but each of us has a planned purpose while we’re still surfacing the earth.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:11-13

Are you living the life God intended? Beyond that, do you know where you’re going when you leave this earth? There are only one of two places you will be welcomed or unwelcomed into, which one will you choose? Years ago, I wrote a book called I Saw God Last Night sharing my experience of when the Lord granted me the opportunity to encounter what it’s like to be separated from the body, and it changed my life forever! It was the most extraordinary thing that had ever happened to me, and it was then that I learned and fully understood the difference between the body, spirit, and soul. It’s true, we are forever beings!

One thing I have realized through the years, and it is this: whether rich or poor, young or old, one race or another—death does not discriminate.