"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
Death is not an easy subject and people generally stay away from it. But death is a fact of life and that is the one thing that every one of us will face. There is no escaping it. But it is not something to be feared. For the Believer, death is something we look forward to with joy. There is no fear, for we know we will be with Jesus forever. The very thought puts an excitment in our spirits. But for the Unbeliever, it can be terrifying. Not knowing where one will spend eternity must be very frightening indeed.
But today, I want to look at death from Jesus' prospective and this verse of Scripture tells us exactly how our Lord and Savior feels about it. He finds the death of a saint "precious". What a sweet, sweet word. Precious. When I whisper it, I feel wrapped in love and joy and tenderness and acceptance. It makes me feel delicious.
"Precious" is defined thus: "of high price or great value; very valuable or costly; dear; beloved" Wow. Jesus consders us of great value, dearly beloved. How awesome to be loved so tenderly, so completely, so unconditionally. His joy in receiving us home exceeds anything we could ever imagine or feel.
Both my sons served in the military. When they would call and tell me they were coming home for a visit, I would turn my world upside down to get ready for them. Clean and cook and bake and plan parties and invite family and friends and work myself into a living frenzy anticipating the moment they would walk in the door. I would have moved heaven and earth if it had been possible in order to see them. The indescrible joy I felt in seeing them and hugging them to my heart overrode any unpleasantness I had gone through to prepare for their homecoming. My boys were home!!
This is how Jesus feels, only multiply the feeling by a gazillion, if you can. And in fact, He DID move heaven ad earth to prepare for our return home. He literally did. And now, He stands at the door of our heavenly home, arms wide open, His smile of joy so big you can hardly see the rest of His face, jumping up and down in His excitement to welcome us home. Oh my Lord, how I've missed seeing you!
Why would we want to deny a saint his homecoming? Because we will miss him or her. It's that simple. We want them to stay with us. We are selfish. When we come right down to it, it's all about us, not them. We can mourn their leaving us, that's Scriptural. But why would we want to keep someone from the presence of Jesus to satisfy our flesh?
Let us sing and dance and weep for joy when a saint goes home. It is precious to the Lord. And one day we too will make that same journey home and receive the same holy welcoming from our Lord and Savior. Mourn their absence from your life, but praise God that that are finally home. Are you prepared to go home to Jesus?
Lord Jesus, take my heart and make it yours. I gve it up to you, I receive you into my spirit as my Lord and Savior. I want to honor and obey you, live as your child, that I may spend eternity with you, my one, true home. Forgive me my sins, Lord, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of my salavation. You are my life, Jesus, I love you. Amen.
A++++++++++ :-)
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