In a recent blog post, John Ed Mathison writes: “A lot of people have some challenges with the IRS. Most folks are trying to find some way not to file tax returns, but a 94-year-old World War II veteran, Siegfried Meinstein, has been trying to file a return.
“The IRS won’t let him because they insist he is dead.
“Siegfried is very much alive. Only the government is declaring him deceased. He actually received three letters from the IRS insisting he is deceased. Now that could be a bit unsettling. Siegfried’s son told him that he ought not let the IRS upset him. He made a very philosophical statement when he said, ‘Eventually they’ll be right.’
“His son is correct. Every person will one day be deceased. The Bureau of Statistics in Alabama still says that one-out-of-one will die. Nobody will escape it. The comedian Woody Allen once said he didn’t mind the thought of dying—he just didn’t want to be there when it happened. He will be.
“Death doesn’t have the last word. That is reserved for God, who gave us life to begin with. Billy Graham said, ‘One day you will hear that Billy Graham has died. Don’t believe it. On that day I will be more alive than I ever will be!’
“Jesus promises, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.’
“While we don’t like to talk about death, it is a reality that each of us one day will face. I just want to make sure that I live life fully before death comes.”
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