Absent from the Body

I have an appointment with death

That is if Jesus my Lord should tarry

But whether I die or whether I live

It is to him I will be surely married.

As a member of his Bride, the Church

I am one of the precious redeemed,

Born again and cleansed from my sin

By Jesus I am very highly esteemed.

A lamb of his flock, a sheep of his fold

I have been on his shoulder laid,

A sinner redeemed by his precious blood

The ultimate price for me he paid.

One day I will die if he should tarry

And a funeral service will be planned,

Several will be there in attendance

But they will not see this man.

You can call it a boycott if you will

But I have no plans to be there,

I will not be interred in any stuffy grave

So my friends of that be aware.

No, I’m no different from anyone else

But I dare to believe God’s word,

At death I will be absent from my body

And only my body will be interred.

While we are at home in the body

We are absent from the Lord,

Check out 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 6

Read it for yourself in God’s Word.

It therefore logically follows

That in death we have left our body,

Something goes to be with the Lord

Since it’s only the body that’s buried.

Let’s look again at 2 Corinthians 5

And I draw your attention to verse 8,

Absent from the body present with the Lord

This cannot be a mistake.

I may not fully understand this

But there are conclusions I can make,

We leave our body, that’s clear to me

At death some kind of flight we take.

We are absent from the body

The Apostle Paul makes that very clear,

Hence I will not be at my funeral

So do not look for me there.

It will be my body there reposing

It will not be me, I must add,

At the instance of death I will have left

It’s your problem if you think I am mad.

Surely I will be absent from my body

And therefore present with the Lord,

But what all of that really entails

I am not so sure from the Word.

I would like to leave this in my will:

No long funeral service please desist,

In any case I will not be there

So please grant me my request.

Stewart Russell © January 2019