The Funeral

"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8

Yesterday we attended the funeral of our dear friend.  It comforts us to know that our friend is in Heaven with the Lord, where there is no more sickness and no more pain.

At the close of the Interim, we watched as our friend's casket was placed inside the Burial Vault.  A Burial Vault is a lined and sealed outer receptacle that houses the casket.  It protects the casket from the weight of the earth and heavy maintenance equipment that will pass over the grave.  It resists water and preserves the beauty of the cemetery by preventing the ground from settling.  This Vault completely encases the casket and is latched closed.

As I watched his casket being lowered into the ground, I couldn't help but think of the day when the skeletal remains of all Christians who lay dormant, waiting for the sound of a trumpet and the voice of the Lord calling his children by name, will burst forth out of their graves!

Resurrected Saints will burst forth from their locked crypts as if they were made of popsicle sticks!

And I will meet my friend again in the air!

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:" 

1 Thessalonians 4:16

The grave is not the Christians final residence...

    and Christians are not laid inside caskets...

        they are placed inside Treasure Chests...

            waiting to be opened by The King...

                But that's just me!