Christians grieve those that have passed away. We are like the world in this way, but in another way we are different for the world griev
es without hope. It goes to funerals and regards those who lie their in their wooden coffins and it has no answers. It seeks to remember what was in the past for the future is empty.
es without hope. It goes to funerals and regards those who lie their in their wooden coffins and it has no answers. It seeks to remember what was in the past for the future is empty. Yet Christians have hope.
(David Ould)
(David Ould)
It's been a rough week for me, a reminder of my own and others' fragility and susceptibility to death and sin. Oooh, thanks for the upper, Marie. Well, all of the events of the past week have brought me down on my knees before the LORD a healthy amount. Maybe I need more weeks like this to remind me of the sovereignty and all-sufficiency of God and get me down there more often.
In preparing a picture board for my grandpa's funeral, I started searching scripture for verses about death, for my own comfort and hopefully for the edification of others who will be attending the funeral. Death is not a familiar topic in our family. Not a lot of close relatives have died for Jake or I, and when they do, there is not a lot of hope for the future. I was really awestruck reading what the Bible has to say about this--because it is exactly the opposite of what the world has to say!
Consider Ecclesiastes 7:1b:
The day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth.
or 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14:
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
The world is scared of death and sees it as tragic, but for the believer, it is the greatest day of our lives! We go and meet our precious Savior! As those we love pass on, we should rejoice even in our mourning that they have finished the race!
What if we're not sure they're saved? This can make mourning a confusing process for the believer (I speak for myself here, at least). I hope with everything in me that both of the grandpas I lost this year repented and put their trust in the LORD. But I just don't know that for sure. God is sovereign, and His will was done. I can rest in that.
I hope to make my dying day an easier one for those that I love. I want people to know where my hope was, and rejoice for me when I breathe my last! What a glorious day!
I love you, Grandpa Wayne! I miss you already! I praise the LORD for all of the wonderful years we had together!
Wayne Gregory BecklundDecember 20, 1923-August 8, 2009
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