Thursday 3/13/14
Whether it was your mom, dad, spouse, child, sibling, or some other special person in your life, some of you who are reading this blog today had your heart ripped in half some time back because of their death. Even if it happened twenty years ago or longer, the void in your heart remains and an indescribable pain still lingers. There are times when the memory returns and you think of how things used to be and you wonder how great your life would be if they were still here with you today. Then you shed a tear or two when a strange voice within makes you feel guilty for not loving them more or attending them better when they were around. If that is you, stop right there. Don’t pay attention to anyone’s voice but God’s. Remember yesterday’s blog. All His children have been freed from condemnation.
One part of scripture that is often referred to in funeral services is I Thessalonians, Chapter 4. Paul, addressing the issue of those who have died as believers in Christ, began by writing:Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. (1 Thes. 4:13) It is reasonable to miss our departed loved ones. We all do. What is not reasonable for God’s children, and certainly not pleasing to Him, is for us to stop living as if our lives also came to an end. I’m sure you noticed my emphasis on the last part of the verse. How else can we be reunited with our departed loved ones in Heaven if we don’t all leave this earth? I bothers me a bit every time I hear a person say that he or she losther mom, dad, spouse, etc. If I know they are referring to Christ believers, I get the urge of rudely interrupting and saying: “How can you say you lost them if you know where they are?” Then I tell myself: “Settle down old-timer, it’s just a matter of expression.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr, not his son, the Supreme Court Justice, is believed to have coined the phrase: “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.” Well, Mr. Holmes if that is true, I beg to differ with you because the Bible says the opposite. Colossians 3:1 says: Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. I’m convinced this is just one of many places in the Bible that are there to remind us that, not only is that where Jesus is, our departed loved ones are there too and are waiting for us. And because of that, we may be heartbroken now, but soon it will turn into unimaginable joy. That is our living hope!
Memory verse for the week: Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
