Of late we have heard news of some pretty prominent people who have passed away, some quite unexpectedly. Names like the amazing Australian music legend, Michael Gudinski; screen actor, George Segal; another famous actor, Christopher Plummer; and, just this last week, the talented Carla Zampatti – arguably Australia’s greatest ever fashion icon. I’m sure you could reel off another dozen names for 2021, so far. The deaths of these people brought sadness, and in some cases, shock as well. It was so unexpected. But so final.
I was watching an episode of season three of “Drive to Survive” on Netflix last week. This docuseries chronicles the drivers and teams in the Formula 1 car racing scene these last three years. Episode 9 entitled “Man on Fire” details with graphic footage the horrifying crash of Haas team driver, Romain Grosjean, at the Bahrain Grand Prix in November last year. It is truly horrifying viewing. Grosjean’s car hit a steel barrier at a speed of 197kph with a gravitational force of 67 Gs – 67 times his body weight – in the opening lap. By comparison, heavy braking in an F1 car on a tight corner is 6 Gs.
The Haas team car split in half and erupted in a fireball fuelled by full tanks. Grosjean was momentarily out of it, but came back to reality and realised his left foot was stuck. He was trapped in the cockpit for what seemed an eternity. The heat was incredibly intense. There was no sign of life for any of those watching. I watched in horror and then nearly two minutes later I saw a ghostly figure stumble from the flames … Grosjean was alive. “It was a miracle”, was the universal assessment.
It struck me then, once again, and I have thought about it a lot since, that death is so final – and most people are not ready for it. Most just aren’t. They think they have all the time in the world. They just don’t …
As I thought about this horrific accident which Grosjean survived with relatively minor burns, I recalled several episodes earlier where he declared his fierce determination to continue Formula 1 racing after he departed the Haas team with a very uncertain future ahead. Yet here he now was, with his wife by his side, being interviewed some days after the crash – and he was not ever going to race again. The shock was still evident on his face. He said, “the priorities that were here last week are, you know, very different. It changed my life forever …”
The accident shook the Formula 1 world. There was so much discussion and talk about the most important things in a person’s life.
None of us are unlikely to have a reality check because we are involved in a Formula 1 racing crash. Most of us never have a reality check that is so stunning and so near death that we completely change our lives around and turn our backs on everything we felt was so important last week. People fear death. It is so final. It can be so sudden and unexpected.
Most people are not ready …
But there is one thing that is more important than death. It is the most important thing – ever. The thing more important than death, regardless of your fame, achievements and success is … repentance. To repent of our sins, seek forgiveness from a holy God and the salvation that comes through the atoning work of Christ, is way more important than death. Death simply confirms our choice to repent – or not – in this life, while we can.
2 Corinthians 7:10
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret,
but worldly sorrow brings death.”
Repentance is more important than death. Everyone simply needs to be ready for death at any time. And so, we who are born again have repented, but we need to continue with a walk of continual repentance and remain at peak readiness for death. Because it surely comes …
Matthew 3:8 “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Be ready. Stay ready.
Selah!
You are wonderfully, zealously loved by God.
Ps Milton