Remembering the Dead

I drove by the cemetery today on the way to Kohl's and saw all the little flags on people's graves. I know Memorial Day is the day we honor the many who have died serving in the military, and that Veterans Day is for the veterans who are still living, but I figure any day is a good day to honor a veteran of any war, whether they came home or not. My dad's buried over there too, and the lot beside him is for me. My mother's parents are over there too. One of these days I want to go see where they're buried. I have been over there before, but I don't remember exactly where their markers are. I miss them all. My parents and my sister are all gone now. I believe I'll see my parents in heaven; I hope I will see my sister. My brothers are still alive. I hope I will see them again both here and in heaven, but I have no assurance of that at this time. When Jesus became first in my life, none of my family members came along with me. Both my parents had, I believe, saving faith, but the rest of them are still not walking with Jesus. God used The Prophet Jeremiah to speak about judgment, how the people had turned away from God and worshiped idols instead. "Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate," says the LORD. “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns--broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:12-13). Both sets of my grandparents were God-fearing people. I did not know the Lord while they were still alive. I didn't know their spiritual condition, but I knew we went to church. I didn't come to know the Lord until much later in life, after all but my father's mother were already gone. My paternal grandparents were Methodists, and my maternal grandparents were from England and Wales and belonged to the Church of England. No one but God knows their hearts, but I know my father's mother was born again because after I got saved I asked her about it, and I learned that she was a Christian. Actually, she did say something to me before I was a Christian. I was living my wild life, no thought of God, or at least very little, hadn't gone to church for years. I made some flippant remark when she asked me when I was going to settle down. I said, "I'm not ready to die yet," to which she replied, "Well, you can get ready, can't you?" Wow. That hit me like a thunderbolt, and I didn't understand why at the time. But now I know God was trying to get my attention, about the reality of life and death. He was telling me through my grandmother that I needed to prepare to meet God. She never said anything else about it, but she watched Billy Graham on TV when I was at my her house. I wish I had come to know the Lord while she was still alive. I bet she was praying for me. And I know I'll see her in heaven. It's a wonderful thing to know where your loved ones are going. It's a terrible thing not to know, but I guess that's one reason we are still here, to pray for them and to love them. My grandparents sure did demonstrate the love of God towards me and all the grandchildren. They were wonderful grandparents to me, all of them. I believe I will see them again. God is calling backsliders to come back, no matter where they have been and in spite of their unfaithfulness to him. "They say, 'If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man's, May he return to her again?' Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,' says the LORD" (Jeremiah 3:1) I have found that any time I open the Bible and read for even a very few minutes, God will give me some spiritual food. "Return, O backsliding children," he says over and over, and yet the people are still unrepentant. My Bible study notes say Jeremiah "sometimes grew tired of bringing God's message of Judgment to an unresponsive people." His message to me and to you if you are a Christian and have been waiting a long time for your loved ones to find the LORD, be patient, take heart, feed on the Word of God and be revived for you will need strength for the journey, and I know that's right. Have a meaningful and moving Memorial Day weekend and may God bless you. May your memories be a joy though your grief may be heavy. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good and his mercies endure forever. Amen.