My youngest son Jon is undergoing surgery at this very moment. He has prostate cancer, and they are removing it. I’m told the operation will take 3-4 hours. I’ve been praying for him for some time this morning and trust God will be with him every step of the way. I pray that the Lord will be with him and keep him safe and that He will guide the surgeons’ hands. I also pray that the cancer will not have spread and that he will recover quickly with no side effects.
Interestingly I had an MRI yesterday morning myself. I’ve been having shoulder trouble and was surprised that I had two MRIs scheduled; one for my shoulder and the other for my neck and cervical area. I initially told the doctor that my shoulder was hurting and made no mention of my cervical area symptoms. I guess he was smart enough to check both. They discovered that in addition to the shoulder problems I have several bulging discs in my neck and central spine area. My doctor recommended that perhaps we should get my shoulder fixed first and then tackle the spine issues.
Dang, I thought my neck was taken care of it when they fused several vertebrae in that area a few years back. I knew my tendons etc. were torn in my shoulder but candidly have also been feeling spine symptoms similar to those that I experienced prior to my neck surgery for some time now but have been trying to muscle through it using Aleve and aspirin.
Oh well, God will sort it all out. I asked Jesus to attend to Jon first and get him squared away and then I’ll take my problems one step at a time.
I have learned that no one is immune to the ravages of this world on our bodies. They serve the purpose of housing our spirits until our mission has been completed then we head home to heaven where we receive an imperishable glorious body free of cancer, pain, and other maladies forever. Until then we must just keep our heads down and get our work accomplished.
Sunday my wife and I watched a documentary on the life of Billy Graham and in one of his sermons he spoke of death. He said that the one thing we all have in common is that we are all going to die. I watched a show on Navy Seals last night, and they showed the burial of one of their members in a military cemetery. As I looked at those long rows of white headstones the impact of Reverend Graham’s statement hit home.
I am reminded of Job’s lamentation surrounding this issue: “Man, who is born of woman, days are short and full of trouble. Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure
. . . ” Personally, I overcame many obstacles in my younger days, and since finding Jesus have lived a long rewarding, and adventurous life and don’t dread leaving this world for heaven at all and actually very much look forward to it, but for my youngest son and all of my children and grandchildren I hope they are granted long and healthy lives.
Billy Graham asked, “How about you? Are you ready to meet your maker?
What must I do to be saved? This simple, yet profound, question is the most important question that can be asked. “How can I be saved?” deals with where we will spend eternity after our lives in this world are over. There is no more important issue than our eternal destiny. Thankfully, the Bible is abundantly clear on how a person can be saved. There is no better example than the Philippian jailer asking that same question to Paul and Silas. Acts 16:30 – “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
I will say that if we look at the Bible contextually there is more to this story. James 2:14 begins a discussion of faith without works and includes a vivid point that even the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19). The “faith” of demons is useless, even though they tremble at what they know to be true. People who say they “believe” in God while showing no evidence of faith have a level of “belief” similar to that of demons.
I expound on this to say that we are saved by grace and not by works lest anyone should boast; however, it is my firm belief that if anyone really believes Jesus died on the cross for their sins they will turn from their former ways and follow Jesus as best they know how which will yield good works along that path. Faith is what is needed to see heaven; that is our part and Jesus did the hard part by sacrificing His life for our sins and shortcomings. I hope everyone who reads this has that faith and is not just going through the motions of attending church for an hour on Sunday and tossing a check in the offering plate and then living like the devil for the rest of the week.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.