[336 words]
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die,…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,4).
I have not met anyone that really likes going to funerals. It seems that I have gone through phases in my life when funerals come in clusters as the different generations of my family age and pass on. I recently attended a funeral when my brother-in-law’s father passed away and was reminded of the importance of funerals for those who continue to live. As I have matured, I have grown to appreciate the lessons that funerals can teach and the often necessary reminders they share.
Relationships are what matter. People are not impressed with how many hours you worked or how big your house is. What matters is how you treated people and how you showed love to those around you. The Bible teaches us the importance of love. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:30-31).
This life is temporary. No matter how many days you live on this earth your time here will come to an end. The Bible teaches us that our lives are but fleeting things, short and unpredictable. “They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure” (Job 14:2).
Death is the doorway to eternity. The most important thing we can do in this life is determine where we will spend eternity. “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).
Brad Tolbert
Monticello church of Christ
Monticello, AR