The End

The last day of the year and I find myself standing beside an open casket. For the hundred or so family and friends of "Uncle Rich"* attending his funeral service was the last place they thought that they would spend the day on New Year's Eve. Just a few days before "Uncle Rich" sat around the table playing Apples to Apples. He was bright and witty; laughter filled the air. The next day he died suddenly of a massive stroke. No prologed illness, no warning signs. At 84 he was full of life one day and the next his life suddenly came to the end.

New Year's Eve marks the end of a year with the celebration of the new. When you think about it, the timing of our New Year is random at best. The seasons mark off the passing of one year and the coming of a new, but our New Year's Eve is situated between the winter and spring solstices. Personally, it makes more scense to mark a new year with the spring solstice as life renews itself (but the coming of spring in the north marks falls arrival in the southern hemisphere - hardly a new beginning).

Nevertheless New Year's Eve and the dawn of a New Year mark our calendar each year. "Uncle Rich" like you and me have no such date circled on a calendar to plan for "The End;" it comes whether we are ready or not.

• It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.

Hebrews 9:27 ESV

"The End" is a day set for each of us by God. And when that day comes we will each be judged by God. "Uncle Rich" was read to stand before the Lord. His faith in Jesus and life of generosity made him rich toward God. Imagine "Uncle Rich celebrated his Savior's birth and when the end came he was literally born into heaven.

And so this New Year's Eve celebration takes on a special meaning. As we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of a new, I can also celbrate our faith in Christ. Death is not the end. For all who are ready for that day death is only the beginning.

*"Uncle Rich" was not his real name.