1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

The Hebrew writer says in 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after that the judgment.” We are not given a choice about whether to meet death or even when to meet death, only how to meet death.

Last week I attended the funeral of one of my nephews. He was 41 years old. He left behind a wife and two sons. Also family and friends who will miss him. When the ministers and friends spoke of his life and the way he loved the Lord, I thought to myself “What a great eulogy”.

A few years ago Newsweek Magazine printed part of a letter from the Greenville County, South Carolina, Department of Social Services. The letter was written to a dead person. It said: “To whom it may concern: Your food stamps will be stopped effective immediately. Because we have received notice that you passed away. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.”

Well, we can rest assured that death is not only certain, it is also permanent. But for the Christian: “The Best is yet to Come”.

A read a story not long ago about a preacher who had received a call from one of the members of his congregation. She asked the preacher to come and visit with her. The time was agreed on, and the preacher went to visit with the lady.

Not long after he arrived at her house, she informed him that her doctor had told her of a health problem she had and that she probably had no more than six months to live. The preacher told her how sorry he was about the news she had received, but she reassured him that she had lived a long life and was ready to be with the Lord.

She went on to say that she wanted to talk to him about her funeral. She told him that she had been thinking about it and there were certain things she wanted done. They talked about her favorite hymns, the Scriptures that she would like to have read and the memories she had from her church.

After they had talked of all these things, she paused, looked at the preacher with a twinkle in her eye, and then added, “One more thing, preacher. When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one hand and a fork in the other.”

“A fork?” the preacher was sure he had heard right. “Why do you want to be buried with a fork?” “I have been thinking about all the great dinners I have been to down through the years and one thing sticks in my mind.”

“At those really nice get-togethers, when the meal was almost finished, the hostess would come by and take your plate. I can hear the words now. Sometimes, at the best ones, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper, ‘You can keep your fork.’ And do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming! “It didn’t mean a cup of Jell-O or some kind of pudding. You don’t need a fork for that. I knew the best was yet to come!
“That’s exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral. Oh, they can talk about all the good times we had together. That would be nice. “But when they walk by my casket and see the fork, I want them to turn to one another and say,’ Why the fork’? That’s when I want you to say, I want you to tell them, that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come!” (Tidbits DAILY Devotional)