Faith & Living
About a month ago I received a call ‘out of the blue’ from an old acquaintance I hadn’t seen in over 30 years since living in New Zealand. It wasn’t a social call, their 39 year old son was dying of a rare form of cancer. “Could you please come to the hospice (South Brisbane) and pray for him?” On my way there in the car I found myself praying, “Lord, what do you want me to say to this young man?” When I met him, I was taken aback at how thin, weak and emaciated he appeared. I’ve been with many folk who were dying but there was something special about this. We began talking about his life, dying and eternity. An old song started playing inside my head. It was a scripture from the book of Revelation… “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
As we shared about eternity, it was as though heaven met earth at that moment in that room. We all cried and then we prayed together. He was ready. He passed away peacefully a week later. For days later I thought constantly about eternity and how important it is to not ignore its reality and its nearness. The Bible says that in comparison to eternity our life here on earth is just like a vapour. Yet, it is really a rehearsal for the next life. We don’t like to dwell on death and yet it’s only one heart-beat away for every one of us. Are we as prepared as we should be? Many don’t want to face it or to think about it, because it will require something of them. But that’s foolishness.
Jesus said, “I’m going to prepare a place for you.” If he’s making the effort to prepare a place for us, shouldn’t we make the effort to prepare ourselves for that place? He’s made it possible.
Eternity awaits us all.
Gary Levens,
Pastor of Dayboro Church.
