As I write this week’s email my wife and I have just returned from saying goodbye to David & Barbara as they are moving to Calgary.

For us it’s a bit of separation anxiety. Sherilyn and Allan are accompanying them to help with the move. So both couples are on the road Wednesday and Thursday.

Separation!

What exactly does that mean? The dictionary describes it as “the action or state of moving or being moved apart.

Our family’s separation is caused by decisions made to provide more opportunities and a lesser cost of living. Not permanent or impossible to visit but still separations. When you analyze the circumstances surrounding separation there are many issues that create “Separation anxiety”.

As I researched the subject, much information is relative to separation through divorce. And that is a serious problem in our world. We see it in the children and the parents where divorce is imminent. We see it after the death of a loved one. We see it when people lose touch or friendships fail.

I am sure many of you have suffered separation from family or friends in various ways. As Christians though, there are a couple of situations requiring separation.

Biblical separation is not about rejection or abandonment, but rather strategic distance for restoration of the wounded Christian. The aim is to protect the wounded, promote repentance and provide space for healing.

There is however, an eternal separation from God which is the end result of His judgement. Those who don’t know God will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, and separation from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might.

That’s the separation that no one should face. Our minor separations here on earth are nothing compared to the eternal separation from our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Billy Graham’s last words and final messages centered on his faith in Jesus Christ, his anticipation of heaven, and a final plea for others to seek salvation.

He famously noted that when he died, he would be more alive than ever, just “changing addresses” and moving to the presence of God.

When our time on earth has ended and we are separated from this life and its trials, tribulations and ill health, we will be joined with our Savior and all those who have accepted Him to spend eternity in Heaven without any separations.

What is sad though, is the fact that as Christians we go on to live eternally with our Savior BUT we will be separated from family and friends who have rejected God’s plan of Salvation.

Let us pray strongly for the lost and offer the message of Salvation whenever we can. There is an attitude in the world called “Separation of church & State”.

When you think about it, that is the saddest comment. The state should not be governed by the church but by the teachings that God laid out for all of us.Think how much better the world would be if the ten commandments were the basis of Government governing, and people all lived by the ten commandments.

Praise God, as Christians our future is secure but separation is still a fact of life and death.