Grace and peace to you.

This afternoon, I checked a local radio station’s website to see if they stream their program live, so I could listen to a particular show while working on my computer.  It turned out that the host of this show had posted a personal video where he commented on the power of prayer.  He explained how one day he was praying to God to let his deceased father rest in peace.  He said that he knows his father “is in a better place,” but he just wanted to know if his father were OK, so he asked God to give him a sign.

Well, the next day, it seems that a cousin of his called him to tell him that she found a picture of his mother and father.  The radio host took this as confirmation that his father was OK, and that it was the sign from God that he had asked for.  He then went on to extol the efficacy of prayer.

It is touching that this gentleman still worries about his dad, who has already departed this world and is now gone to his reward.  This kind of love is commendable in a world where television headlines daily show human beings displaying a lamentable want of natural affection.  I can relate, as ironically, last night, I dreamed about my own father, who passed away almost twenty years ago.  Unlike the radio host, however, I never worry if my father is alright or not.  And I’ll tell you why.

My father was a good man as good men go.  He was hardworking, kept a job, and was a responsible citizen.  Like many of us, however, he used to do what he wanted when he wanted, and some of the things he wanted to do I’m certain would not have met with God’s approval.  But, thankfully, like me, he found Jesus late in life, and made Him the Lord of his life.  Praise God.  Later, he became a minister and associate pastor of a small church.  He had a small shop where he used to sell citizen band radios on the south side of the city, and he divided the shop in half and used the extra space to sell Christian literature, including Gospel tracts.  In fact, it was in his shop that I first encountered Chick tracts.

Years later, my father passed away peacefully in the hospital after a bout with cancer.  My mother said that the night he died, she was visiting with him, sitting next to his bed.  At one point, he had his eyes closed and it seemed that he was talking to her, but she could not hear him well, so she leaned closer to him, and discovered that he was talking to Jesus.  She said that it was as though he were holding a regular conversation, only barely discernable.  She heard him say repeatedly, “Yes, Lord, I’m ready to go,” or words to that effect.  That night he passed quietly away.

When I got saved, I wondered if my father had ever witnessed to me of Jesus Christ, because I couldn’t remember him ever doing that.  Because of this, at one point I wondered if he really knew the Lord, because surely if he knew Him, he certainly would have told me about Him.  But I stopped worrying about that, because there were many times when my father tried to speak words of wisdom to me, and I just would not listen.  It is possible that he tried to witness to me, but my ears were just closed.  Though I was not hostile to the Gospel, I just didn’t want to hear it.

One thing is for sure: the fact that he was selling Chick tracts in his shop shows that he was not ashamed of the Gospel.  But it is still something I used to wonder about.  I stopped wondering when I understood that one day I will know for sure whether my father really knew the Lord, when and if I meet him in Heaven.  Only the Lord knows the truth.

I said all that to say this:  there is only one way to be sure if a person is OK after he has passed from this life, and that is if you know that that person has a relationship with Jesus Christ.  If a person has found the Lord Jesus, that person has been granted eternal life.  He may have passed away from this life, but he has life eternal with the Lord Jesus.  He or she has merely changed addresses.

It is hard when a loved one dies.  I know that.  I am in no way trying to trivialize death, nor its effect on the surviving loved ones.  But, if you have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, and your loved one also knew the Lord, take comfort that he or she has passed on into a new life with Jesus, and shall never again know heartache, sorrow, pain, suffering, or want.  The race is over.  They are indeed in a better place than we, and at some point we have to take comfort in that so that we can move on.

But if they didn’t know the Lord, I have a couple questions for you.  First, do you know the Lord?  If the answer is yes, then did you witness to that person about the Lord Jesus when they were still in this life?  If you did, then you fulfilled your responsibility to that person, and their blood will not be on your head (Ezekiel 3:19).  But, if you knew the Lord and did not witness to that person, then you failed in your obligation.  The person is in Hell, and you had a chance to warn them and didn’t.  Their blood is on your hands (Ezekiel 3:18).

If, however, you don’t know the Lord, then, like the radio host, there is a good reason why you worry about whether your deceased loved one is alright.  How could you have any assurance of the disposition of someone who has passed, if you have no assurance that you yourself are alright?

At any rate, that person that has passed on has gone to his or her reward, be it good or bad.  And your worrying about that person is a sign of uncertainty, which could actually be a good thing, because you are still here, and you still have an opportunity to turn that uncertainty into certainty.  I will tell you what I told the radio host (via a comment I left on his web site): if you are worried about your loved one’s soul, it is a sign that you both were lacking something spiritually.  What you were lacking is certainty about where your soul is going when you leave here.

Think about it.  If you know that a person is going to Heaven, why worry if they are “OK?”  You must have your doubts, and if you do, why?  Another thing: make no mistake, if you have children, and they have not been given assurance (because you don’t have it), whenever you pass on they may have the same uncertainties.  And as with you, it will be a sign that something is spiritually wrong with them.  Why would you put your loved ones through that?

You could end the uncertainty right now.  You could KNOW whether you are going to be “alright” when you die.  You could tell your loved ones not to worry and why, and they would understand, because they would have the same assurance about themselves.  Now that’s the best gift that you could ever leave a loved one.  Eternal assurance.

The radio host deleted my comment.  That’s a shame, because it may have helped someone else.  I doubt that he is the only one that has these concerns.  I have fulfilled my responsibility though.  I didn’t want to write a comment at first, but something (or Someone) within me urged me to do it; and I’m glad I did.

Now you have the same opportunity.  Will you too pass it up?  Will you too bequeath fear and uncertainty to your loved ones?  Or will you do something about it right now?  If you are ready to end the uncertainty and have peace, security, and assurance, click here right now.

Be encouraged and look up; your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

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