Revere the Dead

421 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 2Sa 2:29-32, “Then Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain, crossed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron; and they came to Mahanaim. 30 So Joab returned from pursuing Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel. 31 But the servants of David had struck down, of Benjamin and Abner's men, three hundred and sixty men who died. 32 Then they took up Asahel and buried him in his father's tomb, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at daybreak. ( 2 Sam 2:29-32) With a truce enacted, Joab takes the time to give his brother a proper burial. I am writing this devo on Memorial Day weekend. On Memorial Day we take time to commend all our fallen soldiers, such as Asahel, who gave up their lives on the battlefield. There are parades, solemn observances, and many take the time on this day to visit and decorate gravesites of all loved ones. I'll be honest here, I have never understood this pre-occupation with the deceased. I mean, they are gone! Their souls departed the minute their last breath was breathed. This dead body that we pay so much attention to is nothing but a shell. It was a tent, a temporary dwelling for that soul. Why all the hoopla? But you know what? I think I need to repent of that attitude. I think I need to think differently about the bodies of the deceased and their resting places. Instead of having a negative mindset about these empty shells and their resting place maybe I ought to pause and consider that each one of them were “fearfully and wonderfully made,” by God! God thought so much of these individual bodies that He sent His only Son to not only redeem their souls, but to one day redeem their bodies as well. These resting places are to be hallowed because when our Lord returns they will be launching pads for the reuniting of body and soul. Even the bodies in the sea will rise up like mighty Poseidon missiles on that Day! Revere the bodies of the deceased. Honor their resting places, because one day they will be the focal point of the culmination of all things won for us by Christ on the cross. The bodies and grave-sites are to be blessed because our hope is blessed. Father, help me to revere all life. Give me a proper attitude toward the living and the dead.