Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:5-8
John Todd, who pastored churches across New England for almost fifty years, suffered the loss of both of his parents when he was just a little boy. An aunt offered to take him into her home and raised him as her own. Decades later when she was dying, she wrote him asking for comfort. He responded by telling her the story of the day he came to live with her. When he asked if she would be awake, the man taking him said, “She’ll stay up for you. When we get out o’ these here woods, you’ll see her candle shinin’ in the window.”
Todd wrote, “Presently, we did ride out into the clearing, and there, sure enough, was your candle. I remember you were waiting at the door, that you put your arms close about me—a tired and bewildered little boy. You had a fire burning on the hearth and a hot supper waiting on the stove. Some day soon God will send for you to take you to a new home. Don’t fear the summons, the strange journey, or the messenger of death. At the end of the road, you will find love and a welcome awaiting, and you will be safe in God’s care.”
Unless the Lord returns first, all of us will one day face death. But while death is one of the greatest fears for the world, for a child of God it is merely the doorway into His presence. We have His good and faithful promise and He will never leave us. “For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death” (Psalm 48:14).
