On Friday morning, November 24, 2006, the Lord
sent an angel to escort the spirit of sister Bertha Sellers from
this life into eternity. For many mortals remaining on earth,
that occasion represents immeasurable grief, sorrow, and loss.
Yet, the Bible provides immense comfort in the words of Psalm
116:15, which reads, "Precious in the sight of the Lord are
the death of His saints."
It has been my privilege to have known Bertha
all of my life, a priceless blessing indeed. My early memories
of her are as a boy growing up as her next-door neighbor. More
recently, my relationship with her involved my serving as her
preacher for the last seventeen years. I knew her, perhaps, better
than I knew any other person outside of my own family. Because
of that, I have been able to observe that Bertha Sellers was the
most spiritually minded person that I have ever known.
The apostle Paul said, "Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:2).
By every form of measurement, it would seem that these words were
used as the rule by which Bertha lived each day. She was not consumed
by the things of this world. Her mind was filled with thoughts
of God, Christ, the Bible, the church, the lost, and heaven.
I feel safe in saying that Bertha's 88 years of
life can be summarized by four words "She was a Christian!"
She did not just act like a Christian or pretend to be a Christian;
she was a Christian! She was a Christian wife, a Christian
mother, grandmother, neighbor, and friend. Twenty-four hours a
day, seven days a week, she was a Christian!
Bertha had only one goal in life, and that was
to go to heaven and take every single member of her family with
her. Several years before her decease, she wrote a letter to her
children with instructions that it not be read until her departure
from this life. In it she wrote, "I am so thankful that you
all are Christians, and I pray you will be faithful to Him all
your lives. This should be your most important aim in life ...
My prayer is to meet you all in heaven some day, without the loss
of one." This brings to mind the words of the apostle Peter
who wrote, "Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you
always of these things, though you know them, and are established
in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am
in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly
I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder
of these things after my decease" (2 Pet. 1:12-15). Like
Peter, Bertha wanted to remind her family to be faithful to the
Lord while she was here, and even after she was gone.
Bertha lived the Christian life before her family
every day, serving as an example for them to follow. From birth,
her children were taken to church every time the doors were open
that they might learn faithfulness to God and the importance of
scriptural worship. She taught them the Bible and the importance
of living according to its holy precepts. "And that from
a child thou has known the holy scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15). While some families were busy making
plans to go camping together, or to go to Europe together, Bertha
was planning for her family to go to heaven together. She believed
this to be a lifetime work. Even after her children were grown,
she kept track of their faithfulness in worship. If they were
traveling, she wanted to know where they worshiped. She was not
so concerned about how far they went in life, but where they went
in eternity. With the apostle John, she could say, "I have
no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth"
(3 John 4). Bertha's life was a vivid demonstration of the powerful
influence of the God-given role of women in the church. Nothing
in life exceeded her love for her family and the family of God.
Were she to speak to us today, she would likely echo the words
of Paul, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). -206 E.
Penn Ave., Pennsboro, WV 26415.