On January 2, 2015, my grandfather passed away. As I was writing Resolution Room, it seemed obvious that the dedication would be in memory of my grandpa. I think New Year's day will always remind me of him from now on as each one will mark another year that he has been gone.
I already wrote a blog post about how much grandpa influenced our family and what he meant to me last year. With that, I didn't want this post to be just a repeat of that one. I was thinking back, trying to come up with something to write about, and I realized something. That trip back to Iowa for my grandpa's funeral was - fun. It seems odd to say that you had a good time going to a funeral, but it really was. So what was it that made it so enjoyable?
Putting Arizonans in Iowa during winter is always amusing - just as amusing as putting Iowans in Arizona during summer! My parents, my sister and I have lived in Arizona for twenty-five years and the cold just penetrated our bones. And last year, it was eighty degrees in Arizona in January! Quite a shock to the system to go to twenty below! But as humorous as that was, that wasn't it.
We got to see lots of family and friends. People that we hadn't seen for years were there, and it was wonderful to catch up. It was great to be with family that we don't know how long it will be until we see them again, to get to meet little ones that we've only seen pictures of, to play games as a family. Although that was enjoyable, that wasn't it either.
The reason why his funeral could be a time of celebration, a time of joy was simple. We know we'll see him again. Better than that, we know that he is healthy and whole once again. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 say this, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep." The "fallen asleep" refers to death. Yes, we grieved when my grandpa died - there were tears shed when I found out, tears at the service and the graveside, there have been tears since - but we have hope. Not a vague oh-I-hope-I-hope, but an assured hope. That body that they buried no longer contained the spirit that was my grandpa. It was just his shell. His spirit went to meet his Savior and although it was a sad start of the year for us, it was the best way that he could have started the year.
You can have that hope as well. 1 John 5:11-13 says "And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." God wants us to know that we have eternal life in Him. There are no balance scales in heaven for all our good works to go on one side and all our bad works to go on the other side. The Bible says that the good things we do (our righteousness) is like disgusting, filthy rags to God. Even if we had a mountain of good works on one side and just one sin (lying, disobedience, cheating, etc) on the other side, the good wouldn't outweigh the bad. We can't earn our way to heaven - not by giving money, going to church, reading the Bible, helping at charities, being baptized, taking communion - none of it counts. There's only one thing that we can do. Romans 10:9 tells us, "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." That's all there is to it.
My grandpa believed in Jesus and served Him his whole life. He wanted others to know Jesus as well. I'm sure that he would be pleased that the dedication of my book to him led me to retell that old story that he loved so much.
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