Dust

"By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” - Genesis 3:19

In this verse, God tells Adam that He came from the ground. Most of us are born from a mother, but Adam had no mother. God created him. From the ground.

It's hard for us to know this whole "from the ground" concept, because none of us ever went through it or witnessed it. The "to dust you shall return" is a much easier concept to grasp. People die every day and are buried or cremated. Either way, our final resting place is in the earth.

I don't think God cares about our earthly bodies as much as He cares about our spiritual beings.

I wonder, if each time we pray for our earthly bodies to be healed, does God just shake His head at our lack of understanding? The spirit is what matters to God.

"For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." - Galatians 5:17

God wants for us to have HIS Spirit living in us. Our spirit is what gets to spend eternity with God, not our bodies. We get NEW glorified bodies after we die.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." - Philippians 3:20-21

My wife and I are traveling to a funeral today for our 27-ear old niece. She died unexpectedly last week. That's the bad news, obviously. The good news is that she knew Jesus as her Lord and Savior. That means she still lives and gets a new glorified body. And she is "present with The Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).

I see no downside to death, if we are IN Christ. It's all gain! And if we are left here while others go to be with The Lord, is it really anything more than a lesson in patience for us?

Yes, we miss our family members and friends who have died, but our missing them is simply our lack of understanding about what comes next. That lack of understanding presents itself as selfishness (our sadness) instead of gratitude for God's grace and mercy.

God wants us to be patient. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). But can we be blamed for wanting to be with God instead of in this "earthly tent," as Paul calls it. I think not.

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far." - Philippians 1:21-23

There is joy in death, therefore, but only for those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Choose wisely, while you still have the opportunity to choose.