Saturday will mark the day seven years ago that my dad passed from this life to his heavenly home. The memories are still fresh and in many ways I live as though he were still with me because in my mind and in my heart he is. I miss his physical presence and the opportunities and blessings that would afford, but I would not wish him back to earth from heaven for one moment for that would be the cruelest of all wishes.
Recently, in our church we buried four church members in a 26-day stretch. That is a lot of grieving and our church members miss each of these dear souls greatly. I had a similar experience at a previous church where I preached 12 sermons over a 6 month period, 4 of them in one month alone. Those are difficult times for a pastor, a congregation, and even more so for the families involved.
During this most recent stretch, I heard a church member comment about the death of one of our members by saying, “That sure was bad about ______, wasn’t it?” I’ve heard statements like that before, and even said them myself.
As I thought about the upcoming anniversary of my dad’s death and as I prepared for the funeral of one of our dear saints from our church, the Lord reminded me that the answer to the question is “no, not for the Jesus-follower. It’s not bad.”
Psalm 116:15 reminds us that the death of one of His saints is PRECIOUS in God’s eyes. Yes, you read that correctly, PRECIOUS. The Hebrew word rendered “precious” in that verse refers to something that is of high value like a precious stone. The Jesus-follower can view death as a valuable event rather than a sad moment. Remaining family and friends may be saddened by the death, but for the believer, it is VALUABLE.
Most of us have too high of an estimation of our earthly existence. We tend to over-value this life and all that accompanies our life here. We overwork and over-extend ourselves to amass earthly goods, we bend over backwards to attain earthly credits and praise, and we prioritize our time, energy, and resources around things that are earthly.
Paul reminds us in Colossians 3:1-2 to set our minds toward and seek things that are eternal instead of things that are earthly.
What kind of view do your priorities reflect? Do you wear yourself out living for life on THIS side of eternity when there is a far more valuable life awaiting you? Jesus reminded us not to lay up treasures here on earth, but to lay up treasures in heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21)
How can you reorder your priorities, resources, plans, and practices to reflect an eternal view? When you pass away will it be a bad thing because you are leaving behind what was most valuable to you or will it be PRECIOUS because you will finally reap the heavenly investment you made here on earth?