March 23, 2006

  • I hate death.  Death means that someone has left the earth and we no longer have the pleasure of their company. It makes us sad.  It makes us feel lonely.  And I hate seeing the effects of death on other people... on mothers, fathers, children, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, friends... all left behind, mourning.  No matter if it's sudden or expected, death is painful.


    But those of us who believe in eternal life - who believe that there is a heaven where we are made perfect and are eternally in the company of God - death is not the end!


    I am especially thinking about this fact again this week, as a young man - crippled from 7 years old - "ran to J-sus" this week.  It's so very sad that we no longer have him on this earth. I didn't know him at all, but those who did were blessed by his selflessness... he was loved and he will be greatly missed.


    But he is now in heaven - running, skipping, jumping up and down... all those things he could never do here on earth.  He was happy here on earth - but he's perfect up in heaven!  Yeah!


    His death reminds me of my cousin's.   He died a few years ago of brain cancer.  He was a wonderful, loving, enthusiastic, passionate guy.  He and I were about a year apart - we were both March babies.  But even before he had brain cancer, Indo struggled a lot.  He loved living in this world and wanted to get the most out of it, but sometimes it was too much for him.


    When he finally died - leaving behind a wife, two young kids, his parents, his sister, and countless friends whose lives he had touched - someone close to me really struggled to understand why God would let something like this happen.  And the only answer?  He believed in eternal life and how to get it and had it.  I know he did.  And that meant that he went to a place where he was perfect - free from brain cancer, free from the world he loved so fiercely but struggled through so constantly... free to enjoy the presence of God forever...he was home, with God... and oh how much he must be enjoying it up there!   Sweet!


    And that's why, even through tears, on behalf of these two young men and countless others, I can thumb my nose at death and say:
     "Where, O death, is your victory? 
      Where, O death, is your sting?
    But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord J-sus Ch."

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