The Man Who Died Young

Do you know the name of the first person who ever died? Abel. The name “Abel” in Hebrew seems to mean “breath” or “temporary.” That was Abel’s life: Short. Temporary.

But that doesn’t make sense. Know why? Abel was a believer in God who did the right thing. When Abel and his brother Cain made offerings to God, it was Abel who made his offering with faith in his heart. That’s the right thing, isn’t it? Yes! The Bible says, “By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings” (Hebrews 11:4). Abel had faith in God!

Yet, do you know what happened to him? Abel was murdered by his angry brother Cain, when Abel was still just a young man. That’s awful, isn’t it?

This doesn’t make sense: Why would God let a believer in God like Abel get murdered when he was still a young man? The same thing happens today. Still today, there are Christians who die at a young age. Even children sometimes die.

That doesn’t seem fair. Why does God let people who believe in him die young?

Because death isn’t the end! This life isn’t all there is! In fact, there is something way better than life on earth. Do you know what it is? Heaven! Listen to this Bible verse and see if you can understand what it is saying: “The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace” (Isaiah 57:1-2).

We usually think that living a long life on earth is best. While life is a blessing from God, if you live a long life on earth, do you know what you will have to face? Lots of evil. Lots of sin. Lots of sad and bad things. Where won’t you have to face any of those things? In heaven!

It’s God who decides how long you and I will live. Does God always make good decisions? Yes! Maybe you’ll live to be 100 years old. Great! That will be a blessing from God. Or maybe you won’t make it to 20 years old. Great! Does that sound like the wrong thing to say? If you were to die young, your family would be sad, but you wouldn’t be. Why? You’d be in heaven!

Faithful Abel didn’t miss out on anything good on earth. He didn’t get to heaven and think, “I wish I were back down there.” No way! God brought him home at the perfect time, and he will take you and I home to heaven at the perfect time too, all by faith in Jesus. 

Dear Lord, you let Abel go home to heaven after just a short life here on earth. Let me trust in your plan for my life and take me home to heaven at just the right time. Amen.

(To learn more about our brother Abel’s story, read Genesis 4:1-8 and Hebrews 11:4.)