Yesterday was Cody's grandfather's funeral. And let me tell you, it was SAD. I hate going to funerals, I am such a crier. I sat in the back with my dad while Cody and his family all sat up at the front. I did pretty good until family members started going up to say something about their loving dad/granddad. I always hate that part at funerals. I can't stand to see other people being sad and in pain I guess. It always makes me sad too.
My church, Sherman Bible Church, recently started a new thing with all of the members called Reach Beyond. The goal is to get the entire church body involved in God's work. One of the things we were challenged to do was to read through the gospel, and then Proverbs and Psalms over the next year. We started out by reading a chapter a day out of John a couple weeks ago.
I've missed a few days, but today I caught up (we are in chapter 18 today). In this chapter, Jesus is arrested and questioned about what he had been preaching to the Jews. Jesus knew that he was going to die, but he was o.k. with it because he knew that he had done on earth what he had wanted to do, and then he was ready to move on to Heaven. In verse 11, Peter had just tried to defend Jesus whenever the soldiers and the Pharisees tried to take him away, but Jesus commanded him to stop. He said "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"
Even though he knew what was in store for him, Jesus gladly went through with it because it was what God had commanded of him.
Anyway, reading that chapter about Jesus's arrest and questioning and then thinking about Cody's grandfather made me think about death a little bit. I guess the Lord is really trying to show me something because the sermon at church on Sunday was also about death. At the funeral, Cody's mom told me and my dad that in the days leading to his death, her dad was going on and on about his worries for his family. He wanted to know what was going to happen to Cody's grandma - where she would live, and how she would be taken care of. She said that he was also trying to remember things that he had done with his family. He wanted to be reassured that he had walked Cody's mom down the aisle at her wedding and things like that.
At church, we talked about the Dash. The dash refers to the line in between the date you were born and the day you die on your tombstone. We really have no control over the dates on either side of the death, no one knows when they will die and they don't have a say in when they get to be born. The thing that we do have control over is the dash! The dash represents our lives. I don't know about you, but from now on, I want to make sure that everything I do in my life means something. I want to bring glory to God with my life.
Romans 12:1-2 says it so perfectly: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will."
I want to be able to live my life in this way so that when my time comes to die and go to Heaven, I can say that "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:7-8
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