BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

It was one of “those” calls we pastors occasionally receive. A loved one with a ravaging disease was in terminal condition, in the final painful phase of life. Would I put him on the prayer list at Church? Maybe even go see him?

As usual, I prayed with the caller on the phone, then prayed again when the call was over. Instantly I sensed an insistence, a burden. “Go see him right away,” God seemed to say.

So it was that I was soon driving out into the countryside, searching for a home I had never seen before on a road I had rarely driven.

I found the house, was welcomed inside, and went immediately to the man’s bedside. One look said it all – he didn’t have long. With a conviction borne of the urgency of the situation, I jumped right in. “It looks like you don’t have long to live. Is that right?”

So weak he was almost unable to speak, he whispered, “That’s right.”

“It’s a pretty tough road you’re on, isn’t it? Do you know where you’re headed?”

A shrug indicated that he wasn’t sure what I meant. I explained, “The road you’re on right now is a rough one, but it’s going to end soon. The important thing is whether that road’s going to end in heaven or hell. Do you know which?”

“I’m not sure,” he whispered.

“Would you like to be sure?” I asked.

With tears in his eyes, he nodded his head.

A gentle twenty-minute conversation followed in which we revisited the basic truths of the Good News. God is holy. People are sinful. Our sin separates us from God. But Christ is sufficient to take our sin. His life fulfilled God’s righteous requirements. His death paid sin’s penalty. His resurrection broke sin’s power. To have eternal life, we only need to admit we’re sinners in need of a Savior, trust Jesus for our salvation and give Him our lives. Then we are born again and receive eternal life, and enjoy heaven after we die.

“Would you like to admit your need for salvation and put your trust in Jesus?” I asked.

And he said yes.

So with gasping breath and whispered words, he confessed his need for a Savior, placed his trust in Jesus and welcomed Him into his heart.

Less than three days later, his shallow breathing ceased, and he entered eternity with Jesus as his Savior – just in time, before it was eternally too late.

I’ve had the privilege of being in many such Gospel encounters with people near death. Through such experiences, I think God is issuing a reminder that all of us – not just pastors – are surrounded by the dying. Whether their deaths are coming in three days or thirty years, their time is limited.

Indeed, everybody we meet is in terminal condition. With a conviction borne of the urgency of their situation, we must tell them the Good News about what Jesus has done for them and will do in them. Somebody has to tell them, before it’s too late.