Jesus comforts and assures His disciples, and also us:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)
Following is a brief reflection titled, “What’s With the Fork?”
A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. As she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and asked him to come to her house to discuss some of her final wishes.
She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral service, what Scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. She requested to be buried with her favorite Bible.
As the pastor prepared to leave, the woman suddenly remembered something else. “There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly.
“What’s that?” said the pastor. “This is important,” the woman said. “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.
The woman explained. “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew something better was coming-like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie.
“So, when people see me in that casket with a fork in my hand and they ask, ‘What’s with the fork?’ I want you to tell them: ‘Keep your fork. The best is yet to come!'” (Alan Carr, Biblical Facts about a Place Called Heaven)
“Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:5-6)
“Thank You Lord Jesus, that You have prepared a place for us; for those of us who believe in You as our Lord and Savior. Thank You Lord Jesus, that the best is yet to come with You. Amen.”
Pastor Marjorie