One Day He's Coming

Some of you may remember a post I wrote a while back recounting how my dad would insist that we attend the Easter sunrise service at the local cemetery each year. The service was always held in front of a certain statue ... one of Jesus with His hands outstretched. I have several memories from those services that have stuck with me all these years, but one in particular seems to stand out. There were always trumpets ... guys who played trumpets when the preacher talked about the resurrection and the day when Christ would return. Today, I stood in front of that statue, and I remembered. 

My dad would tell me that one day the trumpet would sound announcing the return of Christ and that the dead in Christ would rise to meet Him first and then those believers who are alive will rise to meet them in the air. I remember wondering when I was a kid what that day would look like ... what it would be like when the graves would open and the saints would rise. Today, I stood in front of the graves of my parents and my brother, and I longed for that day.

 

After Mom passed away, I bought a burial plot under a tree close to where her and Daddy and Jerry were laid to rest. Today, I stood under that tree and thought ... well, I thought about a lot of things today, friends.

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17