Wake up

     “Oh I’m sorry, he passed away,” came the voice on the other line. In the silence that surrounded my aching my heart I could but utter one question. “Do..um..do you know if he…if he was saved?” Silence. Finally, “I don’t know. But I don’t think so.”   As the weight of these words sank in, all my held back tears overflowed. Amidst my tears one thought kept coming back to my mind, “what more could I have done to make a difference in his eternity? 

     I first met Mr. Roger in September 2011 while doing volunteer work at Turlock Residential retirement home. 92 year old, World War II veteran, all Mr. Roger wanted in life was to die so he could go to heaven and have all his suffering come to an end. Yet he was not open to God.  Though I tried for months to witness to and change Mr. Roger’s heart, as far as I know nothing ever changed. If he died with the same heart he had while living, then Mr. Roger is not with the Lord. I loved Mr. Roger as a grandfather so it breaks my heart to think about this. In my heart I keep repeating my question over and over trying to find an answer for myself. Yet I know there is no answer. We will never know what we could have done but we will always remember what we did do. 

       When I left for Kenya in October I never would have dreamt that Mr. Roger would pass away in that short of a time. Yet when I returned he was gone and I only just yesterday heard about this. I visit the retirement home nearly weekly in an attempt to bring love and light to these people’s lives, yet after being snapped at by Mr. Roger I have let myself get carried away in my nervousness to witness again,now I’ll never have that chance with him again.  Mr. Roger’s death is a wake up call for me. It is a reminder again  we never know when our last day will be so I need to make the most of every opportunity I am given to change the lives of others. 

     We are missionaries wherever we are at the present time. We need to treat life as a mission field, constantly seeking an open door for evangelism and service to others.  We make the difference between life and death in this world. That is a heavy burden to carry but we must not let ourselves chicken out, we must be bold and vigilant. Let us go forth in the name of Christ to change this world for Him!!         

“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”

Isaiah 43:10

“For the glory of God!”