S)"13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope."
1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NASB)
O) By "asleep" Paul is referring to those who have died on earth. He uses the term, though, to set up the rest of the passage, regarding the eventual reconciliation that we will have as we all live in eternity in heaven. There's a terrible comparison at the end of this verse, though. There's a grief that the world faces about death, because they have no hope for eternity. In so many ways, we can actually celebrate death in Christ, and that's a blessing in itself. There's no doubt that death is still painful for the people we leave behind, but to the one who has passed - it's just that - they passed from earth to heaven, from temporal to eternal, from death to life. So this verse is actually a promise about death, but it's not a promise to the one who has died, but rather a promise and an encouragement to those who survived them.
A) I haven't had to lose anyone terribly close to me, so death has mostly been pretty distant to me. But, about 8 years ago, now, my mom's hep-C started to progress quite a bit and her liver was bad enough that she was told she'd live about 6 months, or so. A lot has changed since then, and I'm quite thankful for that. It's by the grace of God that I've had time to rebuild a relationship with my mom. She lived long enough to see her first grandchild, my oldest daugther, and then 5 more grandkids (my 2 more and my brother's 3). She lived long enough for us to all move back to Redding, a sort of a rendevouz point, and over the last 5 years she's developed an amazing relationship with my wife and with me (and her other kids here), as well as with her 6 grandkids who adore her. She's still alive now and, while her diseases have been rough on her body and spirit, she's still fighting it all. I occassionally think about what it will be like losing her, now. While it breaks my heart to think of living life here without my mom, I have such an amazing hope and joy, now, thinking of living forever with her in heaven. I can only remain humbled and thankful that God's grace was so good to me, affording me the time it took for my place in heaven to be secured and the time it took for me to get closer to my mom here on earth. I hope I have more time with her here, but I know that hope is still temporal, but my eternal hope remains.
P) Father, I keep finding new reasons to be thankful and I realize more and more that I truly cannot thank You enough and there are so many ways I find I cannot repay You. The grace You gave me in this, Lord, thank You. Help me to honor this work You've done and make the most of my time with my mom. Holy Spirit, convict me loudly when I am wasting the precious time I have. Open my eyes to see all of my relationships this way, too. I know my mother's illness was eye-opening to the delicate nature of life, but the truth is anyone in my life can be lost. Help me make the most of my time here with them all. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
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