It was Saturday, May 11, the day before Mother’s Day. My wife and I were at the cemetery putting flowers onto the graves of our parents. Hers are buried not far from mine. I was walking from one grave site to the other, reading the headstones as I went. One caught my eye. I don’t even remember the name or the birth or death dates, but the message of the inscription at the bottom of the stone really slammed home. It said, “Asleep In Jesus”.

Those three simple words spoke volumes. In the span of an instant I knew that there is where I wanted to be. In this life, that would be my greatest achievement, “Asleep In Jesus”. This passage from Psalms will help me explain:

My frame was not hidden from thee,
When I was made in secret,
And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance;
And in they book they were all written,
Even the days that were ordained from me,
When as yet there was none of them.
(Psalms 139:15-16)

The point is this. I know there is a day coming when I will be no more on the face of this planet, but don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for my life. I am enjoying myself and hopefully have many more years left. I have no special desire to “check out” or “leave it all behind”. Dying is scary to say the least. Besides, I’d really like to stick around and see my granddaughter’s face. We can debate the point if you want to, but God will not have made a more beautiful child. However, those powerful words “Asleep in Jesus” have a connotation that goes along with them.

If a person is truly asleep in Jesus, it means that he or she took their last breath with hope in the work that Christ accomplished on the cross. It means that to the best of their ability they lived a life that was Christ-centered, thus they loved others the way God wanted them to. There is a strong likelihood that their life touched someone in a positive way. It means all of their sins have been blotted out and they have attained the righteousness of Christ Himself. It means they were chosen from the beginning to time to occupy a place in the coming Kingdom. It means they will be with Christ, and see Him just as He now exists.

When you are asleep in Jesus, the reward Christ promised to all those that love Him is on its way! Christ Himself said:

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; For I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am , there ye many be also.
(John 14: 1-3)

Man, that sounds great to me. I wouldn’t mind at all being where Christ is right now. So as strange as it sounds to those of us who are alive, being “Asleep in Jesus” is where you want to be.

Give your life to Him. Ask for His forgiveness and grace. His Peace and his Spirit will make their abode with you, and you will be guarded through faith until the last of your days. Better start making plans on how you want your room decorated. I have a feeling that no request will be impossible. Amen.

Amazing love, how can it be,
That thou my God should die for me?

The above are two lines from one of my favorite hymns. Lately, the reality of those simple lines has really come home.

Think about it. Christ, who existed before the beginning of time, the Creator and sustainer of all things, foreknown indeed by His Father in glory, stepped into time and space for the express purpose of allowing himself to take on the penalty that was due me. God takes sin seriously. How serious? When you consider the nature of Christ’s death, you get a sense of how serious it is. Psalms 22:11-18 says:

Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
They open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And Thou dost lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.

Christ’s death was a lonely one and excruciatingly painful. In the throes of His agony, no wonder He felt as if His Father had abandoned Him.

When I consider some of bonehead deeds I have done in my own lifetime, some caused by the ignorance of youth, some by sheer stupidity or immorality, causing hurt to not only myself but others, I know in my heart that His death should have been mine. Indeed worst would be my lot if He had not offered Himself instead.

This Easter I will remember Him, risen, sitting at the right hand of His Father in heaven, making intercession for me and all those who call on His name in faith. It truly is an amazing love, that the creator of the entire universe died for me, and that I will and now do have the privilege of spending eternity with Him in glory. The Word says I will see Him, and be like Him, and be where He is. Maranatha – come, Lord Jesus!