In life, I live for Him; In death, I die for Him

On Thursday night, one of our patients passed away.

She first came to Loma de Luz a little over a year ago, to receive care for complications of AIDS. She and her 11 year old daughter quickly won the hearts of the missionary community here. Her desire for the Word was something that was talked about by many people at her memorial service. Her love for God was evident as I cared for her in her final days.

While her conditioned worsened, and she began to need several blood transfusions a week, she went to a hospital in the city, while her daughter was cared for in the Children's Center. She made several trips back and forth over the past year, as she would recover and then become ill again.

Two weeks ago, knowing that she was dying, she chose to leave the city hospital and come to Loma de Luz to spend her last days and be close to her daughter.

At her memorial service, the people sang a song in Spanish, with a chorus that basically states, In life, I live for Him. In death, I die for Him.

I have always thought about living for God as something that brings Him glory. I have never really saw death as an opportunity to bring God glory. But actually, how glorious it is to be united with Love Himself. The object of Love's affection, man, is perfected; having no boundaries, and no unfaithfulness to her Lord. Sanctification is complete.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints." Psalms 116:15

We, on earth, see the loss. We only see one side of the curtain. We do more than see it, we feel it. It's a weight that we carry wherever we go, unable to just open our hands and release it's, at times, paralyzing effect. But God sees the end and the beginning of life. He is present in both, He rejoices in both. He sees the grander scale: both sides of the curtain.

We live for Him. We die for Him.

"When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regards to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time, from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 6:20-23