In the Last Hour

 I'll never forget standing around after my Mom's funeral several years ago. I was talking to my (much younger) niece, and just to be cheeky, I reached down with grand gesture into my neckline and tucked the tissue I was holding into my bra.

 The look on her face was priceless .... but to shorten her despair, I laughed and was quick to point out by saying, "As near as I can tell, I am now in the TOP generation that's still living, and therefore I claim the right to do jolly well as I please".

 As I promised last week, today I want to share a story about another one of those miraculous meetings with Jesus.  Like myself, Tony is now part of the 'top generation' of his family, with the passing of his only living Uncle.

His eulogy included the account of his passing, and it’s a story that simply must be shared. It was written by one of his daughters and I couldn't have said it better. She writes:

 “So, here’s my perspective on “the story” of Dad’s relationship with Jesus. It’s a true story about a man who lived 91 years, whose Christian grandmother and aunt began praying for him before he was born. A man who was raised in a family that taught him to revere the teachings of Jesus, but perhaps didn’t focus so much on Jesus Himself. He grew up to be a sincere, truthful and honourable man who always remembered those teachings from his childhood. 

 “He married into a family that held similar values, and thru the years every one of them had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It was no surprise, then, that they faithfully prayed for him to join them in faith. 

 “His wife, my Mom, was a part of those praying saints. For 63 years, until her passing, she never stopped praying faithfully for the salvation of her husband, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her prayers were answered. Amazingly, before she died, she saw the entire family, except for her husband, come to a saving faith in Jesus. 

 “After Mom’s passing, my Dad continued reading his Bible. But whenever anyone would mention his relationship with Jesus, he would fall back on the teachings he had grown up with – teachings that did not require a personal relationship. He even told Tony once that he didn’t have enough faith to be a Christian. He was ready and willing to pray for others but seemed unwilling to pray for himself. 

 “Then, after a short time, Dad began to fail and soon found himself surrounded by those loved ones, everyone - including Dad himself - mindful of the fact that death was near. Even then, from such weakness that he could barely speak, as the family gathered around, he said with peace and confidence, “Jesus will find me.”

And then the last words he spoke, just before he gave up life, in a peace-filled voice barely above a whisper, he uttered these words, “My God, help me.”

And now back to me, Marsha talking.   

We, as a family, choose to believe that we’re going to see this uncle in heaven.  We feel that he did what many people did in the Bible, and embraced the Saviour in his last hour. 

There are those parables like the workers in the vineyard, some of whom didn’t sign on with the Owner until almost quitting time (Matthew20:1-16).

Then there was the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43), whose dying wish was to be “remembered” by Jesus. “This day, you will be with me in paradise,” Jesus assured him.

Jesus went out of His way to teach us that His timing is always perfect and we all thank Him for blessing our whole family with His salvation.  

Thank you, Uncle. We have a lot of catching up to do one of these days.

Marsha