Yesterday I received a five page handwritten follow-up letter from a man who’d read my book. He initially wrote to me a couple of months back and told me that in spite of the fact that he’d attended church throughout his lifetime he was still unsure of whether or not he will go to heaven or hell when he dies.
An interesting side note: this gentleman is 93 years old.
Hmmm…When I first read his letter I thought that this old boy better hurry up and “get on the stick” and settle this issue. I mean at 93 he must already have one foot in the grave and another on a slippery slope.
He asked for my advice and I suggested a few verses that might help him shore up his faith and I also suggested that he read the entire Bible beginning with the New Testament. In his letter he told me he’d just completed it and I was duly impressed that he’d done so in such a short period of time; (perhaps at that age he felt a heightened sense of urgency).
My father is 90 and will be 91 in a couple of days. I flew him down to Honey Lake yesterday in the middle of the tropical storm and thankfully he arrived without incident. We will celebrate his birthday this weekend with my sons and their families.
As we talked last night he nonchalantly mentioned that one of his friends, that he regularly dines with at the assisted living home, died last night.
Geez…I’ve heard of taking things in stride but he was a wee bit too casual with that bit of news and completely devoid of any emotion when he mentioned it. It was macabre even for me. I mean one minute you’re dining with your friend and later that night he suddenly “kicks”, and the very next day you offhandedly mention his death at the supper table as you ask someone to please pass the biscuits!!!
Yikes!
I suppose when you reach your 90’s it isn’t such a big deal when someone passes from this life into the next. Indeed some of my friends have been dropping out like flies lately, and it seems that the older I become, the more commonplace it becomes.
Younger people rarely think of death, but the Bible tells us to think of it often. Eccl. 7:4 – A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
Hmmm…While thinking of death is unpleasant to the senses, it is apparently good for our souls. The Bible doesn’t say to start thinking about death and what will follow at 93 years old. In fact it doesn’t give any particular age range for the process to begin. It simply states that a “wise” person often thinks about death, while a “fool” thinks only about having a good time.
That is a fascinating statement to me. Most think it is ghoulish to think of death, but God tells us to think “a lot” about it.
Okay I’m thinking of my own death right now. It’s not ghastly, grisly, gruesome, horrid, morbid, or chilling to do so. I think of Jesus smiling at me and leading me into heaven and seeing for the first time what “no eye has ever seen” and hearing what no human “ear has ever heard” and being in awe of the wonders therein that “no mind has ever imagined”…
Yes!
I don’t mind thinking of death, but then again the blood of Jesus covers my black sins…
If you see weeping, gnashing of teeth, darkness, and loneliness, or are unsure and afraid of what you might see, perhaps you, (like my 93 year old friend), should read the New Testament beginning in Romans and then on to Matthew and all of the way through…
The choice is ours to make, but there is not an unlimited amount of time in which to make up our minds. The offer just might expire today.
One thing sure that day surely catches up with us all…
Be wise today; think of your impending death… LOL
1 Cor. 2:9
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
Matt. 13:42
And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.