I have been up for over two hours and I am just now getting around to my devotionals. Why is that, you may ask? The reason is that I have six or seven books releasing in the next ten days and I was busy promoting them online. Now, to start my real day…

I awakened in the wee hours of the morning with a deep pain in my chest and a fear about a heart attack. Since I have multiple health problems and see a cardiologist regularly, I did not awaken my slumbering spouse. Rather, I prayed and did some deep breathing, relaxed and fell back to sleep. But the pain was my wake up call that we all die and leave these bodies behind. When I got up and read the headline that the Pope had died, I was reminded of what the Lord had told me as I suffered through the anxiety of pain in my chest. We all die…even the head of the Catholic Church is not exempt from the end of life here on earth.

But…good news awaited me in my devotional today! When I die, as we all must some day, I will not be left in the “realm of the dead.” My soul, the real part of me that relates to God and will continue to live, will never decay. This body is a tent, a temporary dwelling place for my soul until God calls me home. And so is your body and the body of anyone who has accepted Jesus as Savior.

So, that’s my Monday minute. Have a blessed week and enjoy the weather wherever you are and whatever it is doing. God made today for us to live, laugh and love others.