I watched as my only remaining Grandfather took his last, gasping, mortal breath. I stared at the weakening pulse in his neck until I saw the last time his heart pumped blood through his frail framework. His mouth, ever-slowly, began to open wider and wider, and his color turned to death-pale within a few minutes. I watched as invisibly (yet by faith seen), his eternal spirit separated from his earthly body…and he crossed over into worlds unseen.
In my 13 years of ministry, I have visited several death-beds. Early on, it didn’t take me long to realize that I needed to ask an all-important question: “Are you ready to go?” Widows and widowers, shut-ins and those in rest homes that I had barely known for a few years of my life…I would ask, “Are you ready?” I grew in courage and boldness to ask the condition of person’s soul I didn’t even know.
Yet, when it came to my Grandfather, I cowered in fear. Two weeks before his death…he was alert, attentive, and able to have a coherent conversation as he lay in the Critical Care Unit of the hospital. On that Sunday afternoon, I told my wife I was going to go see Pa to ask him if he was ready to go. Yet, as I came into his presence, I felt an apprehension I hadn’t experienced since my high school years of Christianity. I was afraid. I could’ve walked into the unit next door and asked that person, “Are you ready to go?” But when it came to my own Grandfather…I stood as a sheep before the shearers, silent.
I don’t know why it’s so hard to talk to family about Christ, and the condition of their soul, but I do know I’ll have a lifetime to regret (and learn from) my hesitation. Don’t make the mistake I did. “Judge yourselves truly, so that you may not be judged.” (I Corinthians 11:31)
Wow Josh. Thanks for sharing, I feel the same way about talking to family about their spiritual condition. One would think that talking to those closest to us would be easy but it is often one of the most difficult things out there.
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