They shall neither hunger any more, nor shall they thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and He lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

— Revelation 7:16-17

For believers, death is only a transition, a glorious step into His world and our eternal home. However, millions who do not know Christ are afraid of death. Woody Allen once made light of it by remarking, “I’m not afraid of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

We see death symbolized as the caped skeleton with his bony finger beckoning us to go where we don’t want to go. This is captured dramatically in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol when Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Future, who shows him his own grave.

To many, death is indeed the King of Terrors. But the Christian need not be afraid of death. Afraid of death? Afraid to see the Savior’s face? Ah, my friends, there is no tragedy, no pain, no suffering, no depression or disconsolation that Christ cannot heal. One of my favorite hymns states it this way:

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,

Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.

Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish.

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

This is what we have to look forward to—the healing of all our hurts, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Total healing and perfection: that is what Jesus Christ wants for us and that is what He has in store for us.

Question to ponder:
What major hurt in your life has Jesus healed?