This week was a very difficult one for me and all my colleagues at work for that matter. We lost a colleague who was more than just a colleague: he was a friend. He had a way of penetrating your life and making you feel warm inside. It didn’t matter whether you had known him for years or weeks, he had a way of making you feel comfortable as if you have known him for ages. Brilliant, cultured and with a great sense of humour, it was always refreshing to be around him.

As I sat down in the pew of the funeral parlour, hot tears streaming down my cheeks uncontrollably, in disbelief that he is really gone and in utter sadness that I will not see him again, the shortest verse of the Bible came to my mind: John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” It summarizes the deep emotion of sadness that Jesus felt at the loss of his dear friend Lazarus (who He later brought back to life). At that very moment, Jesus felt the sting of death and how it rendered helpless the loved ones left behind. That is what I and all of us in the room felt, deep sadness as we starred at the casket. God’s comforting arms are around us during our brokenness and grief.

Through death we see the mortality of man, and how we are here on earth, but for a moment. It says in the book of Psalms 39:4 “Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days what it is; that I may know how frail I am.”  Our days are numbered and every new day diminishes that number. As we grieve the loss of our loved ones, this reality becomes more clearer to us; no wonder the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:2 “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.”

Life is short and we need to live it to the fullest. As the late Rev. Myles Munroe said in one of his messages we need to die empty. Whatever God given talent you have whether big or small; empty it while you are still alive, so that others can benefit from it. Make an impact in others, and those who make an impact in your life, take the time to tell them while they are still alive and can appreciate it. No need to sing praises of the dead as they will not hear us. Love others with all your heart and make each moment count as if it was your last. To those who are grieving may you find comfort in God’s embrace as I did today!