Advent Devotional – December 11

Meeting our Savior face to face

In Jesus’ name the nations will put their hope.  –  Matthew 12:21

The phone rang at bedtime, and I picked it up.

“We’ve got a sad little boy here,” our daughter Nichole said. Our grandson Connor, about 4 at the time, sobbed inconsolably into the phone.

Connor had figured out that his parents and grandparents would probably all die before he does. That’s a heavy  realization for anyone, but especially at such a tender age.

“We’re not going to die for a long, long time,” my husband Michael said, trying to comfort.

“We don’t know when we’re going to die,” I told Connor. “But it probably won’t be until you’re grown up. And you probably won’t die for a long, long time. But eventually, we’ll see each other again in heaven.”

Maybe this doesn’t sound like a very Advent-y devotion. But to me, Baby Jesus in the manger + Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins + the empty tomb of His resurrection = eternal life. That’s my source of hope. Especially when I miss my deceased grandmother, mother, and father.

Some All Saints Day, Connor and others may light a candle in memory of me. Maybe with tears. But also with the hope — no, certainty — of reunion in heaven, praising our Savior face to face.

Dear Jesus, because of you, death has indeed lost its sting. Thank You. Amen.

 by B.J. Connor