'Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...'

2006-08-28T15:32:00.000-04:00

I recently had the interesting experience of attending my first ever funeral. My Great Great Uncle, Harold Down, was quite close to our family. He had been struggling with cancer for a number of years and passed away quietly at home last Wednesday. He will be missed by all of our family, however we are rejoicing in the fact that he has gone to be with the Lord.

For many years we were unsure about Harold’s faith in Christ, we knew that he read his Bible and the Daily Bread everyday, but he had never really ever talked to any of our family about his faith. While he was quite sick though, my Grandfather sent Harold a letter, explaining the way of salvation clearly and encouraging Harold to let his family know if indeed he had trusted Christ. My parents had the privilege a short time later of hearing from Harold that indeed he had trusted in Christ for his salvation! What great news that was, as we had all been praying for Harold for a long time.

So the funeral was last Friday in Toronto and most of our family from my Dad’s side was there. I had once before been to a visitation and seen a dead body, but I must say it was quite strange seeing Harold’s body in the casket as we all entered the funeral chapel. My first reaction was quite simply, ‘That is not Harold’, and the more that I think about it the more I think that my initial reaction was quite right. It really wasn’t Harold lying in the casket, it was merely the flesh and bones in which he lived during his brief 86 year stay here on earth. Harold is today in the presence of the Lord, he is alive and well, rejoicing in all the wonders of heaven. His body was worn out by disease and decay after years of living under the curse of sin, but his spirit has overcome and will live on for eternity.

Once we were seated my cousin Jason spoke briefly about Harold’s life and things we all remembered about him, then my Dad brought a brief meditation on Psalm 23. Through this meditation the gospel was clearly preached and it was such an encouragement to sit there and rejoice once again in the hope we have in Christ. No matter what happens in life or in death, with Christ as our shepherd we will not want. In life he leads us in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake, and in death we need not fear evil as he has already paid the penalty for our sin. We will pass through the valley and enter into a victory feast of celebration with the good shepherd Christ, who has conquered death, ‘and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever’. What encouraging words, and what a message of hope. A lady who was a friend of Harold’s and who attended thanked my Dad afterwards, saying that this was the first funeral she had been to where she had heard a message of hope.

Praise God. I wasn’t sure what the funeral was going to be like, but I left there totally refreshed and encouraged. Plus all of my family members who aren’t Christians got to hear the gospel clearly preached. The more I think about the encouragement of this funeral though the more I think about how different it would be to attend a funeral where there was no hope, where the deceased didn’t know Jesus. I hope that that is something I never have to do. Just thinking about it has got me feeling convicted about sharing Christ with others even more and making the most of every possible opportunity.

First Post...

2006-08-28T09:04:00.000-04:00

Hello to anyone in the world who may want to read this, and welcome to my blog. I think my posts are going to be somewhat philosophical in nature, but that is not to say I won't throw in the occaisional rant about the way the Leafs are playing. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the thoughts posted herein. I will make my first real post sometime later today on the topic of death as I just attended my first funeral last Friday.

Peace.

Far Cry

'Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...'

First Post...