I recently heard on the news of an elderly couple who died an hour apart (he first). Gordon (94) and Norma (90) Yeager were severely injured in a car accident. When their situation became worse they were placed in the same room to be together. They held hands. They had been married for 72 years. They died holding hands. When Gordon died his heart monitor continued to register a heartbeat. Since they were holding hands the heartbeat was that of Norma. She passed away an hour later.
On hearing this news two thoughts came to mind.
The first was what a wonderful illustration of Genesis 2:24 this is. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” “’Dad used to say that a woman is always worth waiting for,’ the couple’s son, Dennis Yeager, told ABC. ‘Dad waited an hour for her and held the door for her.’ Family members say it’s fitting that the couple died together, since they were inseparable in life. ‘They just loved being together,’ Dennis Yeager said. ‘He always said, ‘I can’t go until she does because I gotta stay here for her.’ And she would say the same thing.’”1
The news story doesn’t mention the couple’s religious affiliation. It really doesn’t really matter. The biblical reference was long before religion entered the world. God expressed His design for the marriage relationship. He knew what it would take for the marriage relationship to work properly. Apparently, so did the Gordon and Norma. I wonder how much of the marital problems our society is experiencing would be solved if that simple design were put into practice. At the risk of being PIC (politically incorrect), God’s plan is for a man and a woman. Enough said there.
My second thought was what a wonderful illustration of Jesus Christ living within the believer’s life. Jesus promised that, if invited, He would come into our lives and abide with us (Revelation 3:20 and John 15:5) and that He would never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He promised to replace our old stony heart with a living heart (Ezekiel 11:19) – His heart. One of the New Testament pictures of church age believers is His bride. As we walk hand-in-hand with Jesus and become one flesh our heartbeat will be His heartbeat. His passions will be our passions. His desires will be our desires. His peace will be our peace. He will walk with us to the very end, holding our hand until death from this world joins us with Him for all eternity (Revelation 19:6-8).
May God bless you as you walk hand-in-hand with Him.

1 Taken from KTLA website http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-iowa-couple-dies-holding-hands,0,3527891.story.