What's in a Name?

A dear friend of mine died a couple of weeks ago. That's right. She died. She didn't pass away, move on, kick the bucket, check out, or go to Davy Jones' locker. She died. Just like the rest of us, she was a sinner and, as the Bible tells us, the wages of sin is death.
Sometimes it seems like, in an effort to be more gentle and loving or to not offend, we tone down the message of the Bible and lose something in the process. Dead. It sounds so final, so complete, so desolate. Unlike those alternatives we like to use, death sounds like what it is. Death is the end of this life here.
Fortunately, that doesn't have to be the end of the story. Jesus came to live a perfect life, die on the cross, and rise again in order to defeat death. He paid the wages of our sin. Yes, death is the end of this life here, but for those whose hope is in the Lord, it is only the beginning of eternity.
Let's stop trying to sugar-coat the message of the Bible and just tell it like it is. You are a sinner. You are going to die. You deserve an eternity in hell. The good news is that God's free gift is eternity with Him for those whom He has chosen before the foundations of the Earth. I am glad that Carolyn was one of those women, and I look forward to joining her in heaven one day.