Christian Living

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Kids say the most amazing things. They express truth so simply. Consider the following example.

A seven year old girl recently lost her grandpa. Then Dakota, the family dog, died. At about this same time, Steve Irwin, the Crocodile hunter was killed by a stingray. Before I go any further I also have to tell you that this little girl is being raised in a household where her dad is a huge Elvis fan.

So with all this as preface, this is what she said: “I miss Grandpa. I miss Dakota. I miss the Crocodile Hunter. I miss Elvis!”

On the surface, the progression and thought of this statement is rather quirky, silly, and comical, and it does get plenty of laughs at each retelling. This little girl has never met the Crocodile Hunter, much less Elvis, who died decades before she was even born! But her statement of yearning makes perfect sense to her and so she just systematically branches out in thought and word to include everybody she knows who has died and/or who has impacted her life in both big and small ways. This is how she processes death and loss in this sin-sick world: not too eloquent, but childlike, and immensely heartfelt and personal.

"I miss Elvis!" is her personal expression of groaning to be released from all the pain and suffering that surrounds her, and she echoes the same truth expressed in Romans 8:21-22. “For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.” But one day, most assuredly, her expression of sorrow and grief over the bondage of corruption will give way to the glorious liberty of no sickness and no death.

That day is coming, dear one. God has strong words for death in Hosea 13:14, where He speaks directly to it. “O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction!” Isaiah 25:8 says, “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.”

Even the tearstained face of a seven year old, who misses Elvis.

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