RIP (Rest In Peace)

"Death is so FINAL!"

These are words my mom has spoken to me several times. Over the course of her lifetime, she has lost countless family members and friends. She misses them and knows she will never see them again in this lifetime...that makes it final.

RIP (Rest in Peace), these are words spoken by others when someone loses a loved one. While those words may provide a source of comfort, it made me stop and think about their meaning. These words imply the person has peacefully passed on to their final resting place.

Eternity...this is another word that is final. From a biblical perspective, it means where a person's soul will remain forever...in a place that has no end. To gain perspective on that, imagine a ruler where each inch represents a million years. Our lifespan is just a small dot on the ruler, yet many people spend the majority of their time focused on the dot...and little to no time thinking about where their soul will spend eternity.

Luke 23:40 - 43

"But the other criminal said, "Don't you fear God even when you're dying? We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn't done anything wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

And, Jesus replied, "I assure you, today, you will be with me in Paradise."

Jesus looked past the criminal's deeds and saw his heart, just as He does with each of us. He examines our hearts and "gives all people their due rewards according to what their actions deserve." (Jeremiah 17:10)

There is no amount of success, fame or fortune that can buy our way into Paradise or where our soul will spend eternity. It is up to each of us to examine ourselves and seek the Lord before it's too late and others will be saying, RIP, about our "dot" of time here on Earth.