Still time for you and me

A very close friend of mine called me this week and asked me to pray for him. He has been battling cancer off and on for the last decade and a half, but has been in remission for the last couple of years. Unfortunately his cancer came back with a vengeance a few weeks ago and he ended up having his stomach removed. They couldn’t get it all and the prognosis is not good.

He sounded weak on the phone but determined to fight on. He told me that he hoped to live at least another year or so. I have been praying for him and thinking about his plight ever since I talked to him. I wish there was more that I could do, but it is in God’s hands.

My friend made a huge fortune in the software business and has given away millions upon millions of dollars to various charities and his church. He is a solid Christian and loves the Lord with all of his heart and is truly one of the good guys. If he does live another year or even beyond, the world will benefit greatly. If he loses his battle, heaven will benefit, but the world will lose yet another good guy.

I tried to put myself in his place. I have faced death more than once and know first-hand what it feels like to be told that your own death is imminent. Even though I am a Christian and realize that dying is not something to be feared, God has ingrained in us that we should strive to fight death to the last and for good reason. We are put here to serve God’s purpose and most of us have not done all that great a job at fulfilling it and time runs out before we get around to doing those things that we know that we should.

The Bible states that life is like a vapor. Compared to unending eternity comprised of eons, trillions, zillions of years that go forever, life’s brevity measured in less than a hundred years makes this metaphor slam home.

My friend has lived a full life and is assured of Salvation, and yet he still desires to drink up every moment that he can and try his utmost to fulfill God’s purpose for his life before he leaves. He knows that he will never pass this way again or ever have another unique opportunity such as this one to serve the Lord in this manner.

This is no dress rehearsal. We get one shot at this world and we should make the most of it. One thing I learned from facing death is that some of the stuff that drags us down is just not all that important in the big scheme of things. We should concentrate on the important things in life and avoid those satanic snares.

One day you will get the nod that it is your time. Are you ready today to meet your maker and give an accounting? Make the most of your good years, appreciate your health, your youth, your spouse, kids, grandkids, your pastor, your church, your opportunities. Have mercy on those less fortunate and be generous , forgive those who have wronged you.

Remember the greatest commandment and the second in Matt 22:36 and try to observe them. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ‘This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ‘All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Look around and you just might find that you are far more blessed than you realize There is still time for you and me, but we need to make haste

Hebrews 9:27
And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,