I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Mine was going great right up until the moment I found out that one of our interns, Alex McDonald, was killed in a hit and run on Thanksgiving Day. Alex was crossing a busy intersection in his hometown of Ocala when a 26 year old man ran over him. When the emergency personnel arrived at the site, he was pronounced dead. According to the newspaper account, the driver fled the scene, but was later caught and is suspected of driving under the influence.
Alex was just 23 years old and president of his fraternity at FSU. He was a hospitality major and worked as an intern and assistant to my son in sales, and also as a server at various banquets at Honey Lake.
Recently he decided to concentrate more on his grades, and the day that he left Honey Lake he told me how much he’d enjoyed working with us.The feeling was likewise. He was a tall good looking kid and was very well liked by all who met him.
I can only imagine the grief his family and friends are enduring at this very moment. In my last company I experienced similar tragedy on Thanksgiving Day when a beautiful young employee by the name of Jody Purcell was killed in a car accident. She’d gone to the store for her mother while she was cooking Thanksgiving dinner and Jody’s car was hit head on by a van. They were illegal immigrants and didn’t have a driver’s license and were all drunk. None of them got a scratch, Jody was killed instantly. She was just 24 years old.
The Bible states that “life is short and full of trouble”. Sometimes followers of Christ dwell too long at this verse and don’t realize that “eternity is forever and is devoid of trouble”. I feel confident that Alex and Jody are both living in heaven with Jesus Christ at this moment. Jody was a staunch follower of Jesus Christ and in fact had organized her own women’s prayer group at our company Horizon. In discussing my book and being around him, I’m also convinced that Alex loved the Lord.
So why did God allow them to be cut down in their prime? Only God can answer that question. We are left to ponder it, but take it from me there will be no clear answers forthcoming. Both of these young people were well liked, good looking, smart, decent, hard-working, and had everything to live for, but it was not to be.
Why?
A friend of mine was out at Honey Lake over the holiday weekend and her aged mother’s health began to fail rather dramatically. She tearfully told me that it looked like she was nearing the end of her grand old life. She told me her mother loves the Lord and there is no question that she will spend eternity in paradise with her Lord and Savior, but when she departs she will be dearly missed by her family.
I told my friend that her loss would be her mother’s gain and that is where I draw my comfort. I don’t believe in death and I believe the Bible when it states that to be absent from the body is to dwell with the Lord, (2 Cor. 5:8 – We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord).
We just cross the threshold and enter life as it was intended by our loving Father. There will be no suffering, grief, tears, sadness, sickness, death, or sin; only joy, peace, and untold glory in perfection. We will revel in God’s glorious creation forever and ever. So in light of that revelation, our grief for our loss is similar to our loved one going on a trip and though we know that we will see them again, we wish them bon voyage with the full understanding that they will be having a wonderful time. We will miss them and perhaps be a little envious that we cannot join them for a while, but we will be happy for them and know in our hearts and accept that we still have work to do until it is our turn to get the call.
God did not create the bodies that we currently inhabit to last forever, because He wants to spend time with us too. He defined the number of days that we will spend on this earth and then it is on to eternity with Him.
Yippee!!!!!
Alex and Jody are there with him now and I’m confident they are having a marvelous time.
Currently I’m writing a novel and part of the storyline is that the veil that covers that spiritual dimension is lifted and people in this world can visit and see both heaven and hell first-hand. The book in part is describing the prophecy by Jesus that in the end times there will be a: “pouring out of the Spirit of God whereby the entire world will hear the word of God and then the end will come”.
In the book the main character visited heaven via a near death experience and later discovered a way to revisit it. He becomes determined to share that experience with everyone on earth in an effort to evangelize the world. Satan of course wants to prevent that from happening and is trying to stop him at every turn.
My book is fictional, but the premise is accurate. Satan wants us to fear and dread death, when in reality Christians should look forward to it. The Bible describes it as a “shadow” and of course shadows are harmless. Interestingly they cannot even be seen if we face a light source. Keep your eyes on the light of Jesus and eternal life, rather than focus on this temporal dark world and the shadow of death.
Paul says this far more eloquently than I can when he states: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. He also said: “I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me”, but he knew that he had work to do for Christ and he added: but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
In all four of the Gospels prior to His ascension to His throne in heaven Jesus commanded the disciples to go out and spread the Gospel to every nation. Paul understood this and though he dearly wanted to go to heaven, he was determined to do his part in evangelizing the world. (And he did just that!)
Are you doing your part? If you aren’t fulfilling this command, please begin today. Time is short – relatively speaking. Selah…
Psalms 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.