"where, o death, is your sting?"

He was buried alive and screaming for help, but no one seemed to hear or care, except me. So I got on my hands and knees and clawed the dirt away, my arms flailing around as fast as they could go, desperate to reach him before he could no longer breathe.

After what seemed like an eternity, there he was, his face covered with dirt but still breathing! I cleared a hole to pull him to safety and hugged him for dear life, crying uncontrollably in relief.

The others finally showed some interest in the situation and pleaded with me to get the man to a doctor, but I wouldn’t let go. I couldn’t let go. He was my friend and he had almost died.

I awoke from that nightmare last night crying in bed and hugging a pillow. And my wife, bless her heart, was hugging me, sensing something was wrong.

What does it mean? I have no idea, but I had plenty of time to think about it since my mind and body were now all stirred up. No more sleep for preacher boy.

As I laid in bed, now wide awake, I kept thinking about a couple of verses from the New Testament.

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”1

What do these verses have to do with my nightmare? Not sure, except they just kept bouncing around in my head. As they did, I knew what I would write about today: You’re reading it.

These verses tell us what will happen when Christ comes back. Those of us who are followers of Jesus and alive on earth at the time will not “sleep.” That is, we will not die. And then comes the really, really cool part: “We will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye.”

I believe this is when we who are alive will receive our heavenly, resurrected bodies. And those who have died will also be resurrected. In their case, their souls, which are currently with Jesus2, will be reunited with their bodies, only these are imperishable and eternal bodies.

Again, what do these verses have to do with my nightmare? Not sure. Maybe this is a reminder that even though I miss my friend, who died a few years ago, he’s okay. And maybe this is a reminder that both of us will be resurrected and I’ll see him again.

But I’m more interested in how you react to these verses. Do they encourage you as much as they encourage me? Are you as excited as I am knowing resurrected bodies are on the way? Are you as excited as I am knowing I’ll be reunited with loved ones who have died?

I don’t like nightmares, but this one reminded me of an ironclad biblical truth, a truth that comforts me down to me very soul: Christ takes care of those who are His.

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’"3  

1  1 Corinthians 15:51-52

2  Philippians 1:21-23

3  1 Corinthians 15:54-55

jesus in your heart

“Put a screw in your pocket and put Jesus in your heart. Break your pact with the devil and do it from the start.”

Remembering that stupid and nonsensical song we had made up as teenagers, I laid a screw in Sean’s casket. My best friend was dead, but was now with the Lord.

Even though Sean didn’t put Jesus in his heart and break his pact with the devil until he was an adult, he did do it prior to dying in October of 2008. In fact, his friendship and witness was what compelled me to eventually follow Christ as well.

I miss my friend more than you can know—I think about him almost every day. While I wish the whole grieving process would speed up, I’m comforted to know he is with the Lord as we speak. The same place where I’m going someday. And the same place where you’re going someday if you have Jesus in your heart.

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”1

While there’s so much we could say about these verses, notice the first sentence from this quote from the Apostle Paul: “To die is gain.” No matter how good things here on earth may be, being with the Lord in heaven is always better. Always.

And did you notice the last sentence? When we “depart”—that is, die as human beings—we go to “be with Christ.”

So where’s Sean? He’s with the Lord. His earthly body and a screw from my garage may be in the ground, but his soul is with Jesus.

While I still miss him, I like that thought. A lot. He’s more than okay, and someday I’ll see him again.

How cool is that?

“Put a screw in your pocket and put Jesus in your heart.”

1  Philippians 1:21-23