Fall is by far my favorite time of the year. Leaves, family, cooler weather...the list could go on and on. God has placed it on my heart to write today of the beauty of the leaves changing. The colorful canopy of leaves is brought about by the actual death of the leaves themselves. While we are rendered breathless by their beauty, the leaves are surrendering to the inevitable. This time marks a dormant period in the life of a tree. The tree gives way to the harsh and lifeless cold winter as it sheds this colorful arrangement.
As I write this, one of the dear saints and a patriarch of our church and community has gone on to be with his Lord. While we, as a church family, are grieving, we can notice the beauty in even such a time as this. You see, the Lord considers the death of His saints as a beautiful thing. Psalm 116:15 says this "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints". While for us, it marks the beginning of a time of bereavement, for the Lord it marks the beginning of an eternity of fellowship with one of His followers.
Another passage of Scripture that the Lord continues to remind of over the last several months is 1Thessalonians 4:13-18, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words."
When a leaf dies, we perceive it as a beautiful thing. When a saint dies, the beauty is that their life is just beginning. We grieve, yes we do. But, we do not grieve as those who have no hope because Jesus will bring with Him those who have gone on before us when He comes to rapture His church. It may feel as though as cold and harsh winter is upon us but we can trust in the Lord that He is bringing about life. As a follower of Christ, I simply want to follow the admonition from Paul in verse 18 above. I want to encourage you with these words. If you are a follower of Christ, death is a beautiful thing. Being absent from the body is to be immediately present with our Lord. That is what makes life livable and that is what makes death overcome-able.
Please, whatever you do, follow Jesus and make followers of Him!
