By Pastor Steve Nickodemus

We return to the dust….

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“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before…the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Ecclesiastes 12:1, 7 English Standard Version

The family gathers around the urn holding the remains of their loved mother and grandmother on a cold January day and the lessons of mortality are once again thrust upon us.  For the harsh fact that we all will die teaches us many lessons.

Because we die, we must face the fact that we are not in control of our lives.  Because we die, we must face the need we have for a God who created us.  Because we die, we must face the absolute fact that we need a Savior who can give us eternal life.

And our Scripture from Ecclesiastes points out that we need to face these lessons of mortality when we are young, long before our bodies begin to show signs of weakness and decline.  For it is important not to live in illusions, in an illusion that we will live forever on this earth or the illusion that we will not grow old, or the illusion that we don’t need God.

For God in His wisdom and mercy made us mortal so that we would have need to call upon Him, to cry out to Him for mercy, to trust in His compassion and strength.  He made us mortal so that we might see the effects of sin and death and so that we might look for our Savior from death, our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the day that I write this devotion I am attending the funeral of my mother-in-law.  Although many great memories will be shared and there will be much love and laughter, there will also be many tears and much sadness.  For the lessons of mortality are sobering and rock us to our very core.  The Lord designed it that way, that we might turn to Him and be saved and live with Him forever.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church Colorado Springs, Colorado