Lessons for Living from the Bible in Everyday English by Dennis Magee

Thank you for the privilege of saying a few words at this celebration of life ceremony.

The Bible, God’s word to us, has words of wisdom and comfort for us that are relevant and appropriate.

The Book of Ecclesiastes, written by Solomon, considered one of the wisest men who ever lived, has this to say about death:

• “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.”

• “Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.”

You might ask, how can this time of mourning be better than feasting and celebration.

Most of us live out each day the same as the days just passed, our lives taking on a pattern of sleeping and waking, eating and drinking, working and resting, without thinking that one day it will all end.

Occasions like this remind us that one day, for each of us, our end will come, and we will be at the precipice of eternity.

We ask after this life what comes next. Solomon says this is wisdom and by understanding we are made glad.

The Bible gives us wonderful words of assurance about what our eternity can be like.

• “My body can yet rest secure because God will not abandon me to the grave. He has willed life for me and made known to me the way of life in His word.”

• “Though this heart and this flesh will fail, with the Lord as my fortress even the grave cannot rob me of life.”

The Bible teaches, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

None of us can ever earn our way to heaven by good works. We all need a Savior, and Jesus comes as that Savior.

The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and life, no one comes to the Father but through me.”

And so, the “way of life in His word” is only by means of faith in Jesus as our Savior.

J.C. Ryle, a pastor who lived in the 1800’s, had these words of wisdom to say:

• “It is an awful thing to have no religion at all. To have an immortal soul committed to your charge and neglect it – this is dreadful.”

• “But it’s no less an awful thing to be content with a religion that can do you no good.”

The Bible tells us, God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God and God in that person.

I was friends with her for nearly 40 years and knew her as a very loving and compassionate person. In her work as a Physical Therapist, she brought comfort to many people. Whenever I had a problem due to an injury, I always found her very willing to talk to me on the phone or visit with me and do a treatment. She also worked with the disabled to help them find employment. She truly lived in love.

Her passing has left a gap in all of our lives that can never be filled.

At this time, I want to offer this prayer and benediction of comfort for her family and to all of us.

• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

My hope and prayer is that God will be your comfort in our loss of wife, mother, and friend, and that you will know the comfort of salvation through faith in Jesus.