Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord

“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (II Corinthians 5:8)

When my parents died, my father in 1972 and my mother in 1998, my brothers, sister and I had funerals for them. The only ones not present at their funerals were our parents. When they closed their eyes in death their spirits left their bodies. They were both believers and lived what they believed. We had the Biblical assurance that they were absent from their bodies and present with the Lord. Their bodies are still in their graves, side by side, awaiting the resurrection.  Their spirits have been enjoying heaven in the presence of the Lord.

I am able to conduct funerals for Christians with the same assurance I had for my parents: absent from the body, present with the Lord.

I talked recently with an acquaintance about a mutual friend of ours, a brother in Christ, who has incurable, inoperable cancer. Absent from the diseased body and present with the Lord Jesus Christ is a prospect beyond compare.