A time to remember...

It can be cold and wet in December in the scenic valleys of Tennessee, but it is a beautiful setting nonetheless. Not much has changed here in a generation. It's not crowded. The old neighborhoods seem to be unchanging, a pleasant, quiet, small town, unhurried, unbothered in a time when most folks are bustling about.

It is to this place that a favorite daughter returned to be interred after succumbing rather suddenly to a dreaded illness. Yet it was a long life, a productive, exemplary life well-lived; a life of teaching at the college level at a state university and on three campuses of a private church-sponsored college and serving as a minister's wife with all the responsibility that brings.

And, after being widowed, she carried on as a great example in the church and in devoting herself to helping rear her grandchildren whom she adored. She carried on until the infirmities of age and a fall slowed her down considerably. And, then the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer came, which was devastating. It was over very quickly, a matter of days – not weeks or months. And yet, it's hard to be sad when you consider the use to which this woman put 80 years and 11 months of her life.

She had great peace of mind because she and her husband had discovered the purpose of life back in the 1950's. They began to live a way of life that was different, but not strange. They learned that God is working out a great plan and that they could have a part in it. It involved a way of life and they set about to live it

She and her husband began to observe the biblical Sabbath and the annual Holy Days as did the early apostles. Both worked as educators in training young people in this way of life. Through it all she maintained close contact with her friends and relatives in the quiet Tennessee valley, relishing her trips there through the years.

As I drove into the valley to conduct the funeral of this lady, who was a close family friend, I knew what she would have me say about her. At the service, I simply told those gathered there to remember what she had believed. She looked into her Bible and discovered what lies ahead for her and for all mankind. She knew that her time would come. "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

The Apostle Paul talked continually about a resurrection and the reward of being a part of the Kingdom of God on this earth under the rulership of the glorified Jesus Christ. "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8).

John the Apostle wrote about it in the book of Revelation, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6).

So, I urged the family and friends not to weep for the deceased, but to realize that she would live again with all of the character, talent, sense of humor and other good qualities she possessed, without the infirmities and suffering of this life in a wonderful world without the evil influence of Satan, as we have today.

When your time comes, as it surely will, can you be certain of what lies ahead for you? Request our booklet entitled Your Ultimate Destiny. It is absolutely free.