Thoughts Concerning the Death of a non-Christian Family Member

I got word today that my Nana (my mother's mother) died last night. She was a special woman whom I enjoyed the company of and I will miss in the years to come. Here are some of my thoughts:

I hope that in her last minutes she earnestly cried out to Jesus for mercy. Apart from trusting in the saving work of the Lord Jesus on the cross and thereby being born again, no one will enter heaven.

How much more this causes me to rejoice in my own salvation, that the sovereign God of the universe called me to Himself and brought me from death to life.

My very first thought after hearing of Nana's death: "Will not the judge of the earth always do what is right?"

This event should embolden me to warn my remaining family members that it is appointed for men once to die and then comes the judgement. Lord, may it be so.

It is difficult to know what to say to my family who do not know God because they are convinced that Nana is "in a better place".

It occurs to me that mourning the loss of one life and celebrating the creation of a new one - as Erika and I are doing while anticipating the birth of a son or daughter in late fall of this year -is a profoundly human experience.