Today's Meditation
Read 1 Thessalonian 4:13-18
13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 15For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.
The scriptures are very clear in stating what happens after death, but for some reason we've taken many different approaches in regard to this. This passage lays out the clearest explanation, with the author prefacing this section by stating that he doesn't want the readers to be uninformed about those who have died. Why? So that they would not grieve the same way that others do who have no hope. As Christians it is our firm belief that Jesus died and rose again, that Jesus and God are one, and that through Jesus, God will bring with him all those who have died.
This is our hope, our joy, our firm belief. While we mourn our loss for all those who have died, we joyously give thanks for their completed race, and our hope for being united with them one day.
Peace be with you as you remember all the saints who have gone before us.
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