More in Store
More in Store
Last Wednesday, we heard that my uncle Dan had passed away suddenly from a heart attack while working on his farm. Although his family was near when it happened, nothing could be done. In the days since I have watched my family grieve deeply. Something I have never seen in the Holland family. This is the first loss in many years. Unlike the funerals I have participated in over my few ministry years, this one was filled with gospel hope.
Of the many Scripture passages we have read together and heard shared by others, two have settled in my heart today.
“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
“But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.’”
No one would openly mock the grieving Christians who put their hope in the resurrection of the dead in Christ (I would hope). But, by their own admittance that they believe Christianity to be a farce, they "pity" the fools who would take solace in the good news of the gospel. For them, this life is it, or they somehow believe all people will spend eternity in heaven. Both are insidious and damnable lies of the enemy. No, Christians have a deep abiding comfort in which they rest when death is near, for he is the enemy defeated by the resurrected Christ.
My uncle was a believer, as is almost everyone in my family. Most of the Holland clan comprises born-again, confessing Christians led by my grandparents, who have taught the Scriptures to their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We have mourned the loss of Uncle Dan and are pained by the burden that his children and wife will carry from now on. But, he loved Jesus and had set his eternal hope on him.
Although the unbelieving may mock the Christian for hoping in Christ, he has not seen, heard, or imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. If you know Jesus as your Savior from your sin and your eventual death, you, too, will come to love him and await the glorious eternity that God has prepared for you.
What do your thoughts, words, and actions say about your hope in Christ for this life AND the next?
For your hope in the next life,
Loren