Yesterday, I attended the funeral of a fifty-three year old wife of one of our pastors. Her name is Linda. Some of you who read this blog probably do not know her. However, had you been able to attend the celebration service of her life, you would quickly have decided that this would have been an individual you would have wanted to know. In fact, I suspect that had you been to her funeral you would have walked away wishing you had had the opportunity to have gotten to know her. And those of you who do know Linda and attended the celebration service, as I did, would have been surprised to have discovered just how little we really did know about her life. We all discovered how greatly she impacted her husband, her six children and three adopted children, her sisters, the church family, and the community. It was truly an inspirational two hours. Linda suffered from a terminal cancer for a couple of years. However, her faith in God and her faithfulness to God through out her journey has impacted many people around her. She wanted her death as well as her life to be a celeabration. It was.
The Hebrews writer wrote:
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV
He also wrote:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV
Linda's life was a testimony of faith and her faithfulness. She is now among the cloud of witnesses who are now observing our journey of faith. Will we remain faithful? I encouraged you to walk your walk of faith with hope and perseverance. For we will reap a harvest if we faint not.
No comments:
Post a Comment