A Family Reunion

Exodus 18:2-5

Then Jethro, Moses? father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses? wife, after he had sent her back, with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom . . . and the name of the other was Eliezer . . . and Jethro, Moses? father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.

A Family Reunion

Beau Arceneaux was 15 months old when he was kidnapped by his father and taken from Louisiana to live in Austin, Texas. Years later, as he visited a chat room on the Internet, a couple of people became curious about this boy who had no contact with his mother. So they informed the police. In December 1995, the FBI showed up at Beau?s home to tell him his mother had been searching for him for the past 12 years. On December 20, mother and son were joyfully reunited. Have you ever been separated from your family? If you have ever been apart from your family for any length of time, you know how difficult it is. I was apart from my wife and children during my last semester of seminary while I was studying in France. I was thousands of miles away, living in a foreign country, knowing I would not see them for months. It wasn?t easy.

Moses also had been separated from his family. Zipporah, his wife of 40 years, and his two sons had been sent back to the land of Midian while he returned to Egypt to lead Israel to freedom. With that challenge behind him, Moses was ready to be reunited with his loved ones?and Jethro was gracious enough to bring this about. While Scripture gives no details, you can imagine what a joyful reunion it was.

As Christians we also have the joy of anticipating a very special reunion. Scripture says,

"And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Now that?s a family reunion! Someday we?ll experience a reunion that never ends. Hallelujah!

Christians never say "good-bye"; just "until we meet again."