Happy New Year! 

Thank you for joining us on this journey through the Bible this year. The reading plan I have chosen for myself, and invite you to participate in, is the BibleProject: One Story That Leads to Jesus. You can find this in the YouVersion Bible app. This reading plan provides daily readings that will take us on a journey through the full text of the Bible. There is a wealth of explainer videos supplied by the BibleProject team. 

The Bible translation I am using as my primary source this year is the New International Version (NIV). From time to time, I will compare and contrast other translations along with The Message paraphrase. 

Who do you know who would benefit from joining us on this journey? You can forward these emails via the tools in the box at the top of the page. You can invite them to sign up via the form at davidgbowman.com. 

As you know, there is no charge for these daily devotionals, and there never will be. There will never be any financial solicitations in this space. 

Pray with me now that God would give us ears to hear and willing and obedient hearts to follow his words of truth and life. 

With gratitude,
David Bowman

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Genesis 2:7  Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (NIV)

Genesis 3:19  “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (NIV)

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Tell me you’re a certain age without telling me you’re a certain age. I retrieved a large flyer from the mailbox with an invitation to a free steak dinner. You know the rule about free lunches and dinners. The proprietor who mailed this invitation knew that if I showed up for his meal and took advantage of his offer, he would earn more than enough to buy dozens of steak dinners for other suckers. 

The invitation was from a company that helps ordinary Joes and Josephines like us save big bucks on our final expenses. Instead of a $10,000 funeral, you and I can have a $1,000 cremation. You can save your loved ones $9,000!

I will not accept this steak dinner, as financially sound as it seems. 

Some years ago, a lay leader in one of our churches came to me with questions about this particular issue. His question was whether it is okay in the eyes of God to cremate someone instead of burying them. His father was about to pass away and had requested cremation. 

You may have wondered the same thing. 

I invited my friend to remember the verses above from Genesis 2 and 3. The reality is that God can do more with dust and ashes than Frankenstein can do with cadavers, or that guy on YouTube can do with vitamins and his carefully curated nutrition plan. 

God knew us before we were born, or in Adam and Eve’s case, before they were created. As Martin Luther’s old hymn says, 

The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His Kingdom is forever.

You and I were created in the heart and mind of God and by the very hands of God. We are intended to live with him forever. 

Cremation is an option. Burial is an option. Me? I’m hoping to be alive when Jesus splits the skies and invites to his house those of us who know and love him. 

The Creator of Heaven and Earth is not hindered by ashes, or dust, or any other awful ending you can imagine. Here is a truth you see again and again in the pages of the Bible: He makes all things new. This includes me, and of course, you.

The best we will ever be is yet to be. 

Don’t worry about how you’ll go. Just know where you’re going, and that it is going to be glorious. 

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I will live forever better than I have ever been.

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Our Father, calm my fears about end-of-life issues. Remind me that the worst thing that will ever happen to me leads to the best thing that lasts forever. Amen.