I have heard it said regarding the death of a loved one, that grief lasts forever because love lasts forever. Yes, love does. But I am so grateful for the reunion I will have with them in Heaven, because I know then the grief WILL come to an end!
Written on my mom’s headstone are the words “Do you know Jesus?”. She was known for asking people that. I believe her question was multifaceted. She was not just asking if you were a lost soul to ensure you could share in that reunion, she was also asking those of us who say we believe, how well we KNOW the One we claim is our Lord.
A.W. Tozer said to have found God and yet pursue Him still is the soul’s paradox of love.
I believe the reason why the bible tells us that God will wipe away all tears in heaven is because there will be some, who we have loved and lost, who will not be present at that reunion, and our grief will be unbearable. I also believe many of us who will be there will have an incredible sadness at the realization we spent our fleeting time on this earth wasted on things that have no eternal value, and missed out on the once in a lifetime opportunity to know the power of His fellowship while here on earth, where we walked through trials and suffering, which is the one place where His comfort, strength, truth, and guidance were so vital to living life victoriously. Don’t miss out!
Do you know Jesus?
Perhaps you are reading this and have never been introduced to Him. Maybe you had heard of Him but didn’t realize He was a real, live person. A God not made from human hands or thoughts. A God that can speak! My friend, the resurrected Christ many religions refer to as Jesus is indeed real. He died so that you may have life, and He was raised from the dead so that if you believe, no thing or no one can take that away from you or separate you from His love. To know Christ Jesus is to know truth, joy, and a freedom that no person or government or any other claiming to be god on this earth is able to give. That is why Christians call it Salvation, because He sets you free and by His death has made a pathway back to a Holy and Almighty God we had all been separated from. You are adopted into His family, and are given not only unconditional love, but also eternal life as opposed to eternal death.
The bible tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, Jesus, so that whoever believes in Jesus would not die, but have everlasting life, and that whoever confesses with their mouth Jesus as Lord, shall be saved. You see, this physical body is a temporary place for your spirit to reside. Physical death is no more different than taking a glove off of a hand. Though the body is gone, your spirit remains. It is this spirit that has been separated from God and is doomed to death without Christ. Christ Jesus came to this earth, lived a perfect life, and died in his physical body to offer a sacrifice that would pay the necessary price for you, so that your spirit could live. This is His free gift to you because He knows you are not able to pay that price in and of yourself. If you are willing to receive this gift, pray out loud in words that confess it, and let Him know you want to live, that you want this reunion and fellowship with God that comes in the moment you give yourself to Him and make Him Lord of your life.
If you are honest then you will realize we all have a lord and master over us of some kind. Jesus is the only Lord and Master that offers life instead of death. He is the only one that cleanses us from evil and darkness, and enables us through His Spirit to live here and now with joy and overcoming power, and offers us His presence through all the trials and suffering this world throws our way, and the knowledge that we will live with Him forever. The choice to miss out on a grief that indeed lasts forever is yours.
Alabastersky 