Not Sad! / David Jeremiah

 

Not Sad! If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, “I am going to the Father.” John 14:28 An old hymn says, “I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad; I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.” That song was on the mind of a man visiting the British expositor Martyn Lloyd-Jones who was dying of cancer. The great preacher had become too weak to speak, so he communicated by nodding his head or gesturing. The friend suggested Lloyd-Jones accept medications that would make him more comfortable, but Lloyd-Jones wanted nothing to dull his mind. The friend said he was grieved to see Lloyd-Jones lying there “weary and worn and sad.”

Recommended Reading: Philippians 1:19-26

That was too much for Lloyd-Jones. Rousing himself, he mustered his energy and whispered: “Not sad! Not sad!”1 Death can’t hold us in its grip when we know heaven awaits us. Jesus was speaking not only for Himself but for His followers when He said that if we loved Him, we would be glad that He was going to His Father. We naturally want to hold our loved ones close to us for as long as possible, but the Bible says that going to be with Jesus is “far better” (Philippians 1:23). Even at death’s door, we sorrow not as those who have no hope.   Do not hold me back from the glory. Martyn Lloyd-Jones