Death on the Side of the Road

 



Genesis 48:7

As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

As I read this verse I was reminded of John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, and the burial of grandma on the side of he road as the Joad's were migrating to California during the Great Depression. One could talk here about roadside memorials marking a fatal accident. I heard a talk about that topic at a conference many years ago. 
Rather, I am thinking about the act that sometime we do not reach the end of what we thought was our journey. The memorial is a warning of what might happen. Often it marks a place in the road that is inherently unsafe.  And that is why it is so important to be strong in the Lord NOW, and in every moment, because the next moment might not come. We plan our journeys, but it may be that illness, old age, or an accident will get in the way. So we must be vigilant spiritually, or otherwise we will be marked on the side of the road, perhaps with a cross or flowers. 

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