Today is the one-year anniversary of Rudolph’s crossing over into heaven. This past year has been painful. As I woke up this morning, I decided to take a sunrise walk along the river to listen to my heart grieve. I knew my burning streams of tears would be soothed by the cold strong currents of the churning river as it meandered toward the ocean.
As I strolled along the river path, I listened to the book of Psalms. Suddenly I stopped –frozen in the middle of the dirt trail– to process what I had just heard. I rewound and played it again. It was so familiar, yet so startling, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.”
I’ve often heard that read at funerals. And so often in the pain of our loss, it seems like we read it with a bit of earthly surrender; dare I even say, almost a level of defeat.
But really? Have I really stop to think what this means? God takes delight in us. God embraces us. God rejoices over us. And, because He loves us so much, He treasures it when we come to Him. It’s precious in His eyes.
I visualize a mighty and powerful God who gently reaches across the borders of time and eternity and lovingly picks up his faithful servant, and tenderly pulls that beloved pilgrim close to His heart. Then the almighty, omnipotent, all powerful God, embraces that faithful servant. Oh how precious!
As I think about what I just heard, I compare good and precious. I think about how God loves goodness. When God created the world, He saw that it was good. We see the goodness of God everywhere. God is good. Its good to be good.
Yet, good is not the word used here to describe the death of His faithful servant. Instead, He uses the word precious to describe how God treasures and embraces our crossing into heaven. It’s a much deeper and more personal emotion.
If I can put my head around the word precious, then maybe I can begin to imagine how crossing into eternity into the presence of God is His celebration at a level that is humanly nearly inconceivable.
Precious is a deep-rooted emotion driven by a love that is indescribable. A child is so precious to her mother that she’s willing to give her life for that child. And to a father, his family is more precious than life itself.
Precious is the ultimate and supreme expression of love, joy, delight, fulfillment, and commitment.
So fathom this, when a Christ follower dies it is an even greater level of deep fulfillment and completion of God’s love for that person. No wonder that the death of a Christ-follower is precious in the eyes of God. He sees it from the big picture. God is looking at this from the view of eternity.
We will all crossover into eternity someday.
Every time a soul crosses over into heaven instead of eternal punishment, it is the completion of God great rescue story, His love story. It is the fulfillment of the sacrifice and redemption plan given through His Son’s death and resurrection.
No wonder the word used to describe the death of God’s faithful servant is an emotion far deeper than a party or fleeting pleasure. Beyond our wildest imagination, it is the great reunion of the Creator and His beloved child.
While I grieve the loss of my dear husband, I can also take comfort that he had a very special welcoming into heaven. He is precious to God. The death of a believer is precious to God. It is His ultimate joy. So comforting. So precious.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. – Psalm 116:15
(Previously written, posted in memory of Rudolph on the anniversary of his entrance into his eternal glory.)
Beautiful In Time 