Author Chuck Swindoll tells about a couple whose marriage had been a fifty-year battle. The husband died, and it fell to the wife to choose a gravestone. She contacted a stonemason and told him, ‘I don’t want to be fancy or spend a lot of money. Just engrave the words: “TO MY HUSBAND” in a suitable place on the stone.’ She went to visit his grave and, to her horror, read these words: ‘TO MY HUSBAND…IN A SUITABLE PLACE.’ Swindoll writes: ‘A humorous story helps mask the pain and confusion surrounding death, but in the end, the laughter stops because death still comes. Humour, as good as it makes us feel, is powerless to stop the grim reaper. Remember the bumper sticker: “Don’t take life too seriously, you won’t get out alive”? Well, the truth is, we should take life and death seriously because we do get out alive. We all face life after death because we all have eternal souls. We’ll live forever somewhere. The question is where. And the “where” depends on how we answer this question of Jesus: “Anyone who believes in me…will never ever die. Do you believe this…?” Jesus alone has the power of resurrection. And our assurance of spending forever with Him in heaven depends on our response…If we say, “Yes,” by asking Jesus to forgive our sins and commit to following Him as Lord – then and only then do we have His power for living at our disposal…only then can we face life’s end with a calm…joyous expectation.’

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.