February 13, 2025 Devo

A few years ago, I took part in a funeral for a woman who chose to die. She had been ill for a good while and was not getting better. So rather than prolong what was seemed inevitable, she asked to stop receiving the medicine and nourishment that were keeping her alive. She passed quickly after that. When we hear of people doing that, we often say they “gave up.” But I don’t think it was giving up for her. It was “speeding up.” You see, if death is the end, then you fight it tooth and nail to prevent it from happening. But if death is a New Beginning, then it’s a lot easier to embrace. For her, death was Healing. And Heaven was Home. We shed tears for what we had lost. But I promise you, she was all smiles for what she had gained.
Our verse today is one that Peter quotes in Acts 2 when he was preaching about Jesus. He saw this as a prophecy about Christ’s resurrection. Jesus died, but He rose from the dead. So will we. Jesus came from Heaven and lived here for a while, but this was not His Home. Eventually, He went back to be with His Father. That’s where we belong as well. Jesus said in John 14 that when He went back to His Father, He was going to “prepare a place for us.” What great news! These bodies will grow old and begin to fall apart. Some of us are experiencing that already. I’ll bet there are some of us who have had days where we’re not sure sticking around in this life is all that wonderful. Some people won’t understand that, but God does. We weren’t made for this world. We were made for Another Place. A Better Place. An Eternal Place. So death isn’t something we have to fear. In Christ, death isn’t the end. The grave is just a bus stop on our trip to a place beautiful beyond our imaginations. Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” I don’t know about you, but “with Jesus” and “in Paradise” sounds like a place that beats ANY day down here on earth! And who wouldn’t want to “speed up” to a place like that? That’s God’s Word for you today.