Being eternally secure
By Dara Fillmore
I recently attended two funerals in two weeks.
Both funerals were for men to whom I was related. One death was sadly
anticipated. The other was a total shock, unexpected. The first was due to
cancer, the second to a farming accident. Both men were just over 70 years old.
I loved going to visit them. The way they each could tell a good story kept me
sitting motionless, imagining the scene as they spoke.
One of the men farmed all of his life. He loved training horses and keeping
chickens. He also enjoyed fixing antique tractors and using them to bring in
the hay.
The other was raised at a poor farm, but went on to work in the
machine industry. He loved working with wood and donated many intricately
made toys and games to local hospitals.
The special thing for me was that each of them had realized his need for Jesus
Christ and had started a personal relationship with Him before passing away.
It was an honor for me to help celebrate what each man had done during his
lifetime. I was able to comfort the grieving families, not with words, but
because I was there, crying with them. They knew their loved one had meant so
much to me.
I generally don’t like to talk about death. The thought of life without a loved
one -- the total separation -- is not what I like to have my thoughts dwell on
for long. But everything that is alive is going to die. That means I should
be prepared to die -- I may know ahead that I’ll die soon, in the case of
cancer, or I may have no idea when I’ll go, in the case of an accident. I don’t
want to be caught off guard.
It is supremely important to choose now where you want to spend the rest of
forever. I have decided to follow Jesus and I’m acting on that decision. Where
will you spend eternity?
Joshua 24:15 says, “. . . choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. .
.” You rarely know exactly when you’ll go. Do you know where you’re headed?
