You might think this post features some paranormal experience. That’s the intent of my title and I hope you will continue reading even though there is nothing bizarre to tell.
Last week my friend’s mother passed away unexpectedly. As soon as I could, I got some flowers and visited her. A few days later as her family began to arrive in town for the funeral and burial, I assembled a food tray and took it over to her. We chatted on her front porch. She shared about her siblings, nieces and nephews who would be present and about her brother who would lead the service.
She told me that her mother had been cremated and her remains would be buried in a rural cemetery near the Shenandoah Mountains. Her father was buried there decades ago. We discussed the technicalities of cremation and burial. Until we face the situation, we don’t consider the logistics of these things. She felt the graveside service would be short and simple. I assured her that it would be very meaningful for family to gather and lay their parents to rest side by side. I expressed my sympathies and went home.
It was now late morning and I had not yet taken time to read the Bible, as I aim to do each day. I follow a simple Scripture reading plan*. I don’t choose a passage each time; I just go to the next one on the schedule. As I began my Bible reading, the day’s chapter detailed the deaths and burial of three people: three very significant figures in the Old Testament. In Joshua 24, Joshua dies and is buried, Eleazor (son of Aaron, who was a priest and Moses’ brother) dies and is buried, and the bones of Joseph are finally interred after being transported from Egypt more than 40 years prior! This connection to my conversation just minutes earlier is not coincidental but completely amazing! Scripture is ALIVE; the Bible teems with purpose and relevance.
Just landing on a topic that previously came up in a conversation may not seem applicable or practical to you. However, a deeper look into the passage and its context shed more light onto its relevance and value. The passage tells us that during Joshua’s lifetime and throughout the span of his leadership team, their nation, Israel, “served the Lord” (Joshua 24:31). What a lifetime legacy: Joshua’s leadership and influence inspired an entire nation to faithfully follow God. The conclusion of Joshua’s leadership era also displayed God’s character. Twice in the final chapters of the book of Joshua, Scripture states that God kept all his promises to His people (Joshua 21:45 and Joshua 23:14). God guided, protected and provided for His people under the hostile conditions of life in the desert and the conquest of new lands as He had promised to do at the outset (the accounts of this are told in the book of Numbers). We can aim to leave a legacy of faithfulness and my friend’s mother lived a full life, God having kept all of His promises to her.
Truly, “the Word of God is alive and active.” Hebrews 4:12a
*In my post “Speak Your Truth, Really? – A Plan, Part 2” January 2019, I shared about various Bible reading plans that are available.
