Edwards’ ninth resolution has always had a special place in my heart: “Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.”

Exactly why that resolution has captured my soul for the last seven years, I’ll never be able to fully explain. But several times each day I think about my death and passing on to glory. I want to be like Moses in Psalm 90 who said, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

I’m sure it’s different for every person, but meditation on my own dying provides clarity, purpose, and resolve. It is also is an acute way for my heart to sift through that which is fleeting and that which is lasting.

A SURPRISING CATALYST

While on a run earlier this week I listened to Candace Millard’s fascinating book Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President, which focuses on the various factors at play in President James Garfield’s assassination. 80 days passed from when the insane Guiteau shot the president until Garfield succumbed to death.

As I listened I couldn’t help but put myself in Garfield’s place. “What would I say to my family? What final words would I want to pass along? What regrets would I have?”

So I have decided to venture on a new series that I am calling – at least for the moment – The Deathbed Confessions. I plan for it to house my answers to those just mentioned three questions in hopes it my stir some to greater purpose for and delight in Christ.

Volume 1 comes next week.