Jeremiah
8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
The
summer of the Age of Grace, in which you can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ,
is not quite past if two things are obvious:
1.
You are still alive, and 2. The Lord's saints are still here
You
see, once you die, you have no choice in the matter. If you find that your cavalier
attitude toward God does not work out so well after you die, God has no arrangement
for you salvation at that point. God wants you be believe in Jesus Christ
by faith. So, if you are standing there nose to nose with Jesus Christ in
heaven, and you cry out, "Now I believe, I just needed to see you Jesus"
God will ignore you, for you refused to live by faith, The Bible says:
Romans 1:17
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.
The
second way you know you still have time to repent of sin and believe in Jesus
Christ is that I and thousands of true believers in Jesus are still here.
If you learn one day that all of the believers in Jesus are gone, and the
media and the Feds cannot tell you where they went, then summer is over,
and you are not saved. Get ready to go to hell.
2
Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the
day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Putting
off the day of salvation until summer is a bit more advanced, until you have had
a few more flings and a few more affairs, is more deadly than playing Russian
roulette.
The sound of Martha's voice on the other end of the telephone always brought
a smile to Brother Jim's face. She was not only one of the oldest members
of the congregation, but one of the most faithful. Aunt Martie, as all of
the children called her, just seemed to ooze faith, hope, and love wherever
she went. This time, however, there seemed to be an unusual tone to her words.
"Preacher,
could you stop by this afternoon? I need to talk with you."
"Of course, I'll be there
around three. Is that OK?"
It didn't take long for Jim to discover the reason for what he had only sensed
in her voice before. As they sat facing each other in the quiet of her small
living room, Martha shared the news that her doctor had just discovered a
previously undetected tumour.
"He
says I probably have six months to live". Martha's words were naturally serious,
yet there was a definite calm about her. "I'm so sorry to .." but before
Jim could finish, Martha interrupted. "Don't be. The Lord has been good.
I have lived a long life. I'm ready to go. You know that."
"I know," Jim whispered
with a reassuring nod.
"But
I do want to talk with you about my funeral. I have been thinking about it,
and there are things that I know I want."
The two talked quietly for a long time. They talked about Martha's favourite hymns,
the passages of Scripture that had meant so much to her through the years,
and the many memories they shared from the five years Jim had been with Central
Church. When it seemed that they had covered just about everything, Aunt
Martie paused, looked up at Jim with a twinkle in her eye, and then added,
"One more thing, preacher. When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one
hand and a fork in the other".
"A
fork?" Jim was sure he had heard everything, but this caught him by surprise.
"Why do you want to be buried with a fork?" "I have been thinking about
all of the church dinners and banquets that I attended through the years,"
she explained, "I couldn't begin to count them all. But one thing sticks
in my mind, "At those really nice get-togethers, when the meal was almost
finished, a server or maybe the hostess would come by to collect the dirty
dishes. I can hear the words now.
Sometimes, at the best ones, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper,
'You can keep your fork.' And do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming!
"It didn't mean a cup of Jell-O or pudding or even a dish of ice cream. You
don't need a fork for that. It meant the good stuff, like chocolate cake
or cherry pie! When they told me I could keep my fork, I knew the best was
yet to come! " That's exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral.
Oh, they can talk about all the good times we had together. That would be
nice.
"But
when they walk by my casket and look at my pretty blue dress, I want them
to turn to one another and say, 'Why the fork'? That's what I want you to say,
I want you to tell them, that I kept my fork because.....
the
best is yet to come!"
(Alisa Boggs, Internet)
"I
WISH WE HAD....."
What
small joy or precious thing have you tucked back into a corner in time and space.....
Something
you plan to enjoy one day just for a "special occasion"?
After your funeral, your
loved ones will say, " I wish she had used this."
