Happy Endings

One thing that stuck out to me about Happy Endings was that no matter how the author shaped the plot of the story it always ended in death. It didn't matter what happened between the beginning of the story and the end because the characters would die anyway. That's how some people view life. They believe that it doesn't
matter what we do or don't do between now and death because after we're dead it will be a moot point anyway. But everything we do, every choice we make does matter. If a young person died because
she chose to use drugs, then her choices would result in devastating grief for her family and friends. Though the young person is dead, the consequences of her actions didn't end or become irrelevent following her death. Her loved ones would spend the remainder of their lives griefing their loss. But as much as this family would grieve, God would grieve much more. God gave Jesus, His only son, to pay the price for our sins so we wouldn't have to. Therefore, when we make wrong descisions and get ourselves in trouble, God's heart breaks. In Matthew 23, Jesus griefed over the city of Jersalem, saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." I think this verse can apply to today's people as well. Everytime we gossip, lie, steal, insult/mistreat others, we're not just hurting those around us. We're also hurting Jesus. In the same way the Israelites of old killed the prophets, we symbolically kill Jesus all over again every time we sin. And just like during the times of ancient Israel, Jesus desires to gather us
to himself, if we would only allow Him to.