What do you fear the most? Illness? Loss of income? Someone you love taken from you in death? Your own death? As a child, my greatest fear would have been the death of one of my parents. The thought of them being taken away in death rippled through my dreams and thoughts often. I was fortunate to not experience that loss.

One of the first losses I experienced was the sudden death of my best friend at age eighteen. Right at the cusp of adult life you don’t imagine dying, nor your friend dying. The loss was intense and difficult. I missed her so much yet I was encouraged by knowing I’d see her again. She was a believer in Jesus Christ. I grieved with hope. Since that time, there have been more losses–that is common as we age. Slowly, slowly people we love leave our life here on earth. Shakespeare describes the sweet sorrow of separation so eloquently:

Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 184

Why would it be called sweet sorrow? Because of what was provided in that relationship. If there were no love, there would be no sorrow.

The apostle Paul reminds us about grieving with hope:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died (I Thessalonians 5:13-14 NLT).

There’s the key and the hope: Belief in Jesus who died and rose again. For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. (Romans 10:9-10).

We grieve. We’ve lost something precious to us in this life. More importantly, is a belief you are secure and will be with Jesus when you die. I pray you examine your life. Consider your beliefs. Have you accepted the free gift God has offered to you in the gift of his son, Jesus, who died and rose again for you? If you haven’t do so now. It will be the most important thing you can do.

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