The Death of a Loved One

It is a wretched thing to think about the death of a loved one, but it is inevitable that we will face this travesty. We fight for life constantly. It is because God, the Maker of heaven and earth (and everything else, including us), placed in the hearts and minds of each one of us the idea of life. We do not want to die but because of sin entering into the world death came with it (Romans 5:12). It is going to happen.

My cousin, Brenda, passed away this past week. She suffered with a neuroendocrine cancer. It is a horrible disease. She fought a good fight against the cancer. She endured chemotherapy and embolizations and so forth as the doctors ordered. She knew she was not in good shape. It happened: death reigned in her mortal body. But the beauty of it all is that Brenda only started to live when she passed from this life to the next–and there is a next!

You see, when Brenda was a young girl, she was told that Jesus Christ died according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4). She was told that if she believed this with her heart, that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confessed with her mouth that Jesus is Lord, she would be saved (Romans 10:9, 10). Brenda believed and she confessed this to be truth revealed. Brenda is now living out John 3:16: “For God so loved Brenda, that if she believed in Jesus, Brenda would have eternal life” [I changed the wording a bit to make the point more clear). There it is! She believed and was given the right to be called a child of God because it was God’s will for her to believe this truth (John 1:12, 13).

Through the years, she has believed this. She’s been through a lot. She had a brain tumor years ago and survived when she was told that she may or may not survive. She’s been a business owner. She’s married to a police officer and all the stress that goes with that. Brenda lived her life with joys and hurts while believing that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Yes, the death of a loved one is difficult to fathom. We do not like it. In fact, we hate death. It is because God placed a hunger in all of us for life. I pray that if you have never trusted Jesus Christ like my cousin Brenda did, that today you would do so. She would want it. I know I want it. But you have to believe Jesus Christ and trust Him for salvation.

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