“Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.” (Isaiah 66:24)This past summer I had the honor of preaching my grandmother’s funeral. At the internment, I challenged those present to look around them. My grandmother was buried at Rose Hills just outside Los Angeles, California. Rose Hills is one of the largest burial sites in the world. Within eye sight of my grandmother’s grave were literally thousands of other graves, each one representing a life, and each life having its own story. Some lived their lives well, like my grandmother, while others were to be found wanting. Looking at all those graves, and the lives they represented, made me consider my own life. One day it will be my turn to be lowered into the grave, one day others will stand around and recount my life, and in that day, what will be the sum of my life? Will it be said of me that I lived my life well?
King Solomon reminds us, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy. The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4) Recently, I have been to far too many funerals, and none of them were easy. Yet even in the house of sorrow wisdom can be found. It is good to be drawn to consider our lives. This life is mortal, it is but for a moment, but we are eternal beings. One day we will pass from this life to a life eternal. The question before all of us is where we will spend eternity? Will we spend eternity in the presence of God or will we only know eternal judgment? The choice is ours! Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47) The choice is our, will we believe upon Jesus and receive His eternal life, or will we reject His Gospel and suffer eternal separation from God? As for me, I have chosen to receive Him. Thanks be to God!
David Robison
Very humbling Post,
ReplyDeleteYou put the one thing we can all be sure of death and judgement in perspective in a real way that is close to home.
It is so important to have the assurance that The Lord Jesus will keep us from the evil one and that our lives are in his hands for He gives us the promise that he will lose not one.
May the Lord make this Psalm real in the hearts of those who read your Post David.
Psalm 80:18
So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
I have just stumbled across this blog, and spent a lot of time reading your observations. This one in particular hit home with me. Having dealt with deaths ranging from cancer, suicide, and accidents among close friends in the last year, I found not only wisdom but comfort could be found from the bible. But I just wanted to add a footnote. Although “the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure” it is clear from the bible God does not want us to dwell on sorrow. God created beautiful sights, sounds, tastes and smells so we could use them to glorify him.
ReplyDeleteNothing gives me more pleasure than watching the sun set over a lake with a loon calling in the distance, or watching the combines at harvest time, or the seeing the Northern Lights dance across the sky.
God intended us to be overseers of that creation, and although I can’t recall a specific passage telling us to take pleasure, I would find it hard to believe, doing so is wrong.
I believe you are right in saying focusing exclusively on pleasure is not the way to go.
This blog has really made my day, and I want to thank you for posting your thoughts so others can listen.
Thanks for your comments. You're right, God does not want us to be weighed down with sorrow but rather we are told that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Psalms 16:11 says that in God's right hand are pleasures forever. Even when God brings us to repentance, while we may experience sorrow over our sins, God wants to bring us forth in joy through His forgiveness of our sins.
ReplyDeleteThanks again and may God continue to bless you and the ones you love.
David Robison
I enjoyed your comments. I too have had to preach far too many funerals this past year. Each one causes me to reflect on my life. Two questions that often come to mind are: "What am I doing that will touch eternity?" and "What legacy will I leave behind?" (Besides money, of course, I gave up on trying to do that long ago, lol)
ReplyDelete