When People Die

Last weekend my former Pastor, Paul Welch, passed away. He had been declining in health for several years, so no one was too surprised by his passing. His funeral was last Thursday, which we could not attend. We watched it on livestream. It was a beautiful tribute to his legacy and to his faithfulness to G-D as he left a great legacy to his daughters, grand and great-grandchildren, and the church that he once served as pastor. He will be missed by everyone he came in contact with in his many years of ministry.

Then another day, another friend of many years passed away this week as well. She was our neighbor from a few years ago, and she attended our synagogue down through years. She was a dear friend, and she will be missed. She never gave up hope that Yeshua would heal her, here or on the other side. Her faith and her belief in G-D were kept alive.

I was thinking of the two people I was close to at one time, how my life was changed because of them both.

Our lives here on earth is a short one. We are born, then we die in some way or another. The L-RD giveth and taketh away. We have heard it all before in some fashion. Are we ready to die? Do we have our affairs in order with our family and our Maker? All these things we think about all the time.

In the past 30 plus years, I have lost a father, mother, a baby, a grandparent, in-laws, best friend, co-workers I worked with, etc. As we lose all those we have loved, our mind tends to wander to the world to come (Olam HaBa). Where does one go when we leave this world behind? The only answer I can say is that it is up to G-D. We have to make sure we are sure in our relationship with Him is true and that we are ready to meet Him when that time comes.

I am sure of one thing in this life, that my life had some meaning, that I loved my family with all my heart, and that I am right with the L-RD. I want to be sure my soul is right with the One who created heaven and earth. G-D put us here for one purpose and that is that we love G-D with all of our heart, soul, and might. We have to be sure that we helped all those we could and that we make right with those we come in contact within our lifetime.

The only words we want to hear when do meet Him is “well done, my child.”Those are the words we ALL want to hear when we see our Abba.