This is very true. The day of death is better than the day of one's birth - for God's children. True, also for the day of your birth, O child of God, you should and will praise God in all eternity. For God created you and gave you this temporal life that you might obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ. But you are conceived and born in sin, and certainly it is not God's fault. And you are born into work and toil on this sad earth which the Lord has cursed. (Gen. 5:29) It is not necessary to speak of all the spiritual and bodily misery into which we have been born, and the end of which is death. But now you are a child of God, you are God's beloved child through faith in Christ Jesus. And when the day of your death comes, you may rejoice and say: "Lo! the sun of morn now rises, and the breaking day I see that shall never end for me." What day? The day of eternal and a perfectly blissful life. This day bends down to the day of your death and consumes it. The sun of this day rises as soon as the darkness of the day of your death descends upon your heart and eyes, and thoroughly illumines you with the most blessed light. Then there will be no more sin, no more curse, no more work and toil, no more misery, neither spiritual nor bodily. Then there will be nothing but righteousness, nothing but blessing, nothing but comfort and rest, nothing but bliss both spiritual and bodily. Oh, indeed, the day of death is better than the day of one's birth. Therefore St. Paul writes by inspiration of the Holy Spirit: "I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ; which is far better." (Phil. 1:23) And therefore our own, never-to-be-forgotten Dr. Walther once said, with eyes a-gleaming: "The day of my death Oh, I can scarcely await it; I rejoice at the approach of it; it will be the best day of my life!" The day of death is better than the day of one's birth. For then our true life will begin.