One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. -Psalm 27:4 (NIV)
Today, I and many other agents attend the passing of one of our own. While we do mourn because we wish the deceased would continue journeying with us, we have supreme comfort and peace knowing where she went.
As true believers, we know that this Christmas season holds a far deeper significance than gifts or decorations or even time with friends and family. It’s about our belief in faith that God packaged His infinite power into a mortal bundle–an infant–to grow up among us and to eventually be killed by us…to be sacrificed…so that we may partake of His free gift: forgiveness of our sins, making a way for us to be forever in His presence when we pass on from this world.
We’re pilgrims and travelers who are just passing through this world to the next. We also know that Jesus is the only bridge from this world to the next, and that only belief in Him and His works lowers the bridge for us. To know that our passage has been secured ahead of us is comforting to remember as we get scraped and scarred during our journey.
I didn’t know the deceased personally, but one thing I did know about her was the only thing that mattered: that she believed in who Jesus was, and what He did. Because of that, we know that she now resides–free of all infirmity–in the most desirable place, which is in the house of the Lord for all eternity, in His presence.
Each time the Christmas season rolls around, those of us who have lost a loved one will feel it in our hearts, but time will give us the healing, comfort, and perspective to know that they’ve accepted the greatest gift the world will ever know.
If our pilgrimage on this earth were a book, we can say we don’t know what will happen on this page or the next, but it’s an amazing comfort to know how our story ends: rejoining our loved ones, where there is no more sorrow and no more pain…only eternal bliss in the presence of the Lord.
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