My Grandfather Going Home
I remember as a teenager sitting in my grandfather’s fishing boat as he told me about how he served in the army during the WWII D-Day invasion. He told me about how he needed to use his anti aircraft flack cannons to take out German snipers in the church bell towers. I was enthralled by his stories, however the United States Army is not the only army he served in, he also served in the Lords Army. Driving home from the lake we drove past his church, where he served as an elder, and it is there where he discussed the importance of spending time with God. While I did not understand at the time, my grandfather understood the significance of putting on your spiritual armor every day. As a teenager I really looked up to him and as an adult I’m going to miss him.
The nurses at the
VA hospital
preformed a private
flag ceremony in
the courtyard
On August 27, 2010 my Grandfather, with an American flag draped over him, went into eternity with Jesus. Before they took his body away the nurses at the VA hospital preformed a private flag ceremony in the courtyard that inspired and reminded me of his service. In the same manner that he was honored for service to America, I know that in Heaven he will receive an even greater honor, an imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).
from our Heavenly Father.
One day that flag will perish and America as a nation will cease to exist, but a believer who is adopted into the Eternal Kingdom will receive a heavenly reward which is “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-5). I write this to encourage you to remember our greatest reward comes not now, while we are here on Earth, but in heaven from our Heavenly Father. Therefore, remain faithful to God, obey him in all His commandments, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” (Galatians 5:22-23) for this is a mark of a believer. While it is a great honor for my grandfather to receive this recognition from his country, it will be an even greater honor when he receives an imperishable crown from the creator of all (James 1:12).
Will you receive this honor?
To all the service men and women, I thank you for protecting my religious freedoms. To all my Sunday School teachers, I thank you for teaching me about freedom in Christ.
Hi Paul!
You wrote a fine piece with appropriate emphasis on the spiritual. Following Christ, submitting to His Lordship, and obeying His commands results in this mortal taking up immortality. Moth & decay will ultimately destroy all that exists physically. Imagine that even the great behemoths in the firmanent-the stars-will all one day perish. Yet, in the same light, by obeying Christ, becoming His disciple, and living in His light guarantees everlasting life for the believer. As a believer, I acknowledge God’s absolute, eternal rule over all that is and I daily pray for the grace to repent of my sins daily. Christ right now prepares a place for me in His eternal city. I will serve Him before His throne for an eternity, and I will begin to scratch the surface of the absolute splendor & majesty of the King. As a member of the US Air Force and a Marine, a small piece of those great institutions will live on into eternity in my heart plus the host of service members that ring around God’s throne even now. What will matter at that point will be God’s glory alone yet I imagine some military traditions will never die for practitioners who trust in Jesus will never die!