I had never even met Jonathan. A good friend of mine, a teacher at his school, sent a text message saying
Prayers are appreciated for our GIS [Grace International School] community. A student passed away last night in a motorcycle accident.
17 years old. A high school senior. The previous day, he and some buddies had driven to a nearby mountain to view the sunset. We’ve had LOTS of rain in this part of the world lately, and so being able to finally see a sunset was a big deal. One of those friends later recounted how Jonathan had remarked “how amazing God has made the world for us!” The friend went on to say, “Jonathan finds beauty in everything because he knows the Creator.”
I’m at a loss to be able to explain why I’ve been so drawn to learning about this young man. For who-knows-what-reason I watched the High School Chapel Remembrance a few days after his death. And then the Celebration of Life Service two days later.
Maybe it’s because of being a mom. No parent envisions outliving their child.
Maybe it’s because of feeling the brokenness and confusion of his classmates. No high school student envisions missing graduation because of not being alive.
Maybe it’s because of feeling that it simply wasn’t fair. Why him, God??? Why a young, godly kid who had a whole lifetime ahead of him — a whole lifetime of being able to impact the world for Christ???
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. (NIV)
Psalm 116: 15
The Lord cares deeply when His loved ones die. (NLT)
When they arrive at the gates of death,
God welcomes those who love Him. (MSG)
Yes, those verses are true. And yes, I believe in them… and in the God whose ways are often vastly different than if I were the one in charge. And yet… listening to the Chapel and Celebration of Life services hammered home some important truths — truths that impact all of us.
Life is short.
Mr. T, one of the faculty/staff at GIS during the Chapel Service
Death is unavoidable.
We all have a choice to make.
Some have decided… and some have not.
But even indecision is still a choice.
If we choose to sit on the sidelines,
what Jonathan would want you to know
is that you need to get into the game.
Cross over from sitting on the bench
and start participating in the great mission
that God has for your life.
Jonathan loved well
because he knew the God who loves best.
“We all have a choice to make… even indecision is still a choice… you need to get into the game.“
Death is the one thing in life that everyone can count on. It affects 100% of us… and, as Jonathan’s untimely (to us, anyway) demise highlights, it is no respecter of age. Or income. Or education. Or social status. Or background.
I’m not sure who all reads my blogs… family, friends, others I’ve never met. But regardless of who we are, where we come from, what our past has been like there’s a loving God who wants to have a personal relationship with us. A relationship that can only be had on His terms, which involves His Son.
God knows the pain and anguish Jonathan’s parents have been going through because He gave His Son — His only Son — to die so that you and I can have relationship with Him. We can be forgiven of any and everything in our past. We can look forward to the future because His Son not only died, but then was raised from the dead and now lives forever! He’s not some kind of idol made from silver or gold or wood or crystal… idols that have mouths, but cannot speak; eyes, but cannot hear; noses, but cannot smell; hands, but cannot feel; feet, but cannot walk; throats that cannot utter a sound.
Dear friends — wherever you may be in your journey of knowing and embracing God through Christ — NOW is the time to “get into the game,” as Mr. T shared. NOW is the time to quit dilly-dallying about your eternal state. We have no guarantees when our lives will end… but we DO have the guarantee that once we put our faith and trust in the finished work of Christ we’ll be able to look forward to an eternity with God.
“Jonathan loved well because he knew the God who loves best.”
May we, like Jonathan, love well because of knowing the God who loves best. And may we encourage one another to seek joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!” For even in deep sorrow there can be great joy when one knows God personally.
Joy in the Journey 