It was a beautiful fall day. The sun was shining brightly. The trees were vivid with deep reds, and phosphorescent yellows, and the vast expanse of grass was still a pleasing dark green. Framed in the window was a young man with a silver bugle to his lips. The last notes of a sad military goodbye were dying on the wind, men were standing unconsciously at attention, and there were some sniffles and stifled sobs coming from the group surrounding the metal box that held their fallen husband, father, grandfather, and soldier.
I love how America respects the passing of its heroes; every soldier no matter how great or small, no matter whether they have handled an M1 in World War II, or handled a typewriter during peace time, General or Private, if they have served honorably or received an honorable discharge they receive the honor and respect of their country and a flag is folded by his military peers, and Taps is played for his last goodnight. Even those of us who are civilians find ourselves standing as tall and as straight as we can, because of the honor of those moments.
It takes many weeks to make a man a Soldier or Sailor or Marine, and much training for him to earn the right to be one. He sacrifices much, and does things he probably won’t want to remember; over time the change will become so complete that years later, remnants of his training will still be visible. He still salutes the flag, he still says “TDY”, and he stills calls the bathroom the “head” or “latrine”. He still uses abbreviations to describe things, and many other various habits that have become a part of him, NO they ARE him. It is who we love, and those are the things we will miss. So to honor him as he departs we stand, and for those who are saved, in Heaven God stands for their arrival.
I stood at the funeral on this fall day for Kenny Lake, a World War II paratrooper, and had the words of the Preacher ringing in my ears. One of Bro. Lake’s favorite verses was I John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Now that is a transformation! Our God is SO holy, that when one of His own meets Him face to face for the first time, God’s image is permanently imprinted upon him. His holiness is so pervasive that it infects everything around Him. It took many weeks to make Bro. Lake a soldier, but it only took a moment for him to become perfected.
For those who have spent much time in Bible Reading and Prayer this change will feel like a giant leap toward a goal to which they were already heading. For others, it will feel strange and unusual, and they may feel uncomfortable for a while, because the effect will be so total that nothing of their old ways will be left. God is So Holy that time spent with Him changes one to look like Him. And we WILL look like Him one way or another (Phil. 1:6). Even years after meeting Christ, our habits will show that we were His followers. We will talk about Him, we will sing about Him, we will meet others and listen to others talk about Him. We will enjoy hearing how others met Him.
But what about you? How will your passing be? Will we stand at your graveside in respect and miss all the things that made you a great Christian soldier? Or will we read about your passing in the paper and wonder if you really made it to heaven?
Spend time with God.
If you spend time with God, you WILL look like Him, for He is Holy, and those who spend time with Him are affected by His presence.