A Wreath At Roadside

A Wreath At Roadside We were returning home from vacation when we noticed the wreath lying below a lamppost at the entrance to our village. At once we knew what it meant: someone had died. Wondering if it was anyone we knew, I returned to the lamppost later to read the small card that had been placed with the wreath. The message on it was heart-rending: “Darling Dad, I wish I was there to help you when you fell. Please watch over us. We love and miss you. Forever in our hearts.” How tragic! Somebody’s Dad had fallen on the road – either struck by a passing car or having suffered a heart-attack. The family members were devastated and wanted to express their grief by placing a wreath and a message by the roadside. We can understand in some way how they felt. They loved their father and missed him tremendously. If only one of them had been there to give him comfort and ease his pain when he fell – even if his death could not have been prevented! But it was too late. WE MISS YOU
It has become common practice in Britain and other countries to place a wreath, or flowers, and a message along the road where someone has met an untimely death. To those who have lost loved ones, the accident site becomes almost sacred. But the message beneath the lamppost revealed something else – something that was wrong. The one who placed it there held on to the hope that Dad’s spirit was still at the place where he died; and that he might read the message, appreciate their concern, and as a spirit-being would somehow watch over the family. Many years ago King David lost an infant son. As he lamented his death, he expressed a profound truth: “Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Sam. 12:23 NKJV). Death is a time of parting from the ones we love. We cannot communicate with the spirits of those who have died. Indeed, the Bible forbids the employment of mediums to this end (Lev. 19:31). Those who have died have left this world. Their bodies have been placed in a grave, but their spirits live on in another life. At the moment of death a process begins which causes the body to “return to the earth as it was”; but without a moment’s delay “the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Eccl.12:7). ONLY TWO PLACES
There are two destinations after death – a place of bliss and a place of torment. We all deserve the place of torment because we have all sinned and broken God’s holy law (Rom.3:23). In love to us, God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior, and He died for our sins upon Calvary’s cross (1 Jn.4:14; 1 Cor. 15:3). To experience God’s forgiveness, we must tell Him that we are sorry for our sins, that we believe Christ died in our place, and that He shed His precious blood for us. Have you done that? If we have lost a loved one who was saved and we are saved too, then we can be sure that we will meet them again one day in the Savior’s presence. This is a very comforting prospect. But if we do not ask for God’s forgiveness, we will have to pay the price for our own sins – in hell. Life is too uncertain to take risks: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Prov.27:1). Ask Jesus to be Savior and Lord of your life today. By Martin Girard