Dealing with Death

We recently lost a loved one in our family - my grandmother's sister, my great aunt June.

Aunt June is the second one from the right.  She's telling us about losing her husband some years back but still having hope in God and trust that God Himself will take care of her when her husband cannot.

This photo was taken only a month ago around Thanksgiving at a little get together we had because my cousin had come into town.

Only 3 short weeks after visiting with her at this family gathering, she suffered two strokes; the second being so severe that she was simply unable to recover.


She will be missed.  She left a great legacy of devotion to her family, hard work in all she did, and, most of all, service to Christ.

Losing loved ones really gets a person thinking.

What will be said of me when I'm gone?  What does our life really mean while we are here?

How do we spend our time and energies?   In "futility" or "idleness", building our own name and fame or in service to others and to God?  

This is so challenging to me because I know my temptation is to spend far too much time worrying about myself and my life and far too little time concerned for others.

I've often said in the past, "Think about yourself at the end of your life.  When you are on your death bed, what is it that you will consider the most valuable way(s) that you spent your time?  Try to live your whole life spending as much time on those things as possible."

This is so heavy and so true.

Life moves SO fast.

I think of the children's book "Ten in the Bed".  There were ten in the bed and the little one said, "Roll over", so they all rolled over and one fell out.

The generations pass through this same cycle.  When you were a babe, your parents and most likely their parents generations were around and (hopefully) vibrant and active.  If you were lucky, you even knew your great grandparents for a time.

But just like a children's story about falling out of the bed, the generations roll over from one to the next. 

I am in the young parents generation.  Yesterday I was a child and on the bottom.  Today I am in the parents generation and tomorrow I will be in the grandparents' generation.

It all goes round and round like that.

And when you think of how fast it goes, it can be scary.

Except when you remember the hope we are all offered in Jesus Christ.


"I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  John 14:6.

In the truest and most profound statement in all of human history, Jesus offers us the hope of eternal life with the Father (God) in heaven.  You and I do not have to call death our final ending.  We do not have to fear it.  We can have our ugly sin (ALL OF IT) forgiven by Jesus Christ and go straight into the most joyous, beautiful, and perfect places imaginable.  We can live forever with God in unbroken fellowship with him and all who have called on His name throughout the ages.  But, there is only one way to get there.  You must go through Jesus and the forgiveness he bought for you by his gruesome and agonizing death on the cross.

If you have confessed your need for a savior, and called on Jesus to forgive your sins, then you have the hope of glory ahead of you.  A life of meaning now and a future of hope.  Check out my post on HEAVEN for a reminder of what we are in store for.

If you have not reached out to God to accept the gift of redemption He offers you in Jesus Christ, you may not know the hope I am talking about - the hope of spending eternity in heaven, the weight of your sin lifted off your shoulders, and the knowledge that you have been made right before the creator of the universe, the almighty God.  He chose to forgive us through Jesus's sinless death, all out of His love.  He shows us over time that we need Him, and He does the forgiving and the reconciling once we ask Him.

Death is sad, but it is not scary for the one whose hope is in God's grace poured out through Jesus.  It is where we say goodbye to this earth with all it's troubles and say hello to our Maker and the perfection we've never known.

Consider your life today as I have.  Is it going the way you want it to go?  Are you able to spend enough time on what matters most?  Do you have the joy right now of knowing Jesus as the savior of your sins and the one who gives your life a purpose and meaning greater than you?

Once it's your turn to roll out of the bed, will you roll into an eternity with the One who loves you more than anyone has ever loved you and who removes your sin "as far as the east is from the west"?

Thank you, God, for your love for us.  I can't wait to be with you for all eternity just as Aunt June is now!

If you have 2 or 3 extra minutes, please click here and really think about this song and it's lyrics.  It echoes these ideas and is absolutely beautiful to listen to.  It often makes me weep.