If Tomorrow Never Comes

"For it is a fact that I face death daily; that is as true as my pride in your growth in the Lord.  And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those men of Ephesus—if it was only for what I gain in this life down here? If we will never live again after we die, then we might as well go and have ourselves a good time: let us eat, drink, and be merry. What’s the difference? For tomorrow we die, and that ends everything!  Don’t be fooled by those who say such things. If you listen to them you will start acting like them."  1 Corinthians 15:31-33

As a young girl I would often go visiting church members in the hospital with my father.  Sometimes I had to wait out in the hallway because I was too young or there was something of adult importance transpiring in the room, but I remember these times with my father fondly.

In those days, most hospital rooms were semi-private, with two people to a room and a curtain between the two beds.  On one particular occasion, my father knocked on the hospital door and called the gentleman's name he had come to see.  There was no answer, so Daddy gently opened the door and saw that the bed of the man he had come to see was empty.  Taking out his pen and business card, he began to write a note to leave for the man.  As he wrote, a voice came from the other side of the curtain.

"Hello, are you a pastor?" the man said.

"Yes, I am.  What can I do for you?" Daddy asked.

"I wonder if you might pray for me," he said.

"Yes, I would be honored to pray for you," said Daddy.

The conversation went on as Daddy asked the man if he knew Jesus and explained what that meant.  When he finished the Gospel message, he asked the man if he wanted to ask Jesus to come into his heart.  Tears streamed down the man's face.

"I never knew it was so simple," the man said.  "Yes, I want Jesus to come into my heart.  I want Him to save me."

That night, the gentleman on the other side of the curtain accepted Jesus.

The next night, I went with Daddy again to the hospital, as he was eager to see how our church member was getting along and see how the gentleman on the other side of the curtain was doing, too.  When we knocked on the door, this time there was a familiar voice.

"Come in," the church member said.  The curtain between the two beds was pulled back and there was no gentleman on the other side.

"Where's your roommate?" Daddy asked.

"He passed away last night," said the church member.  "He told me you came by.  Couldn't stop talking about the fact that He met Jesus!"

Daddy and I drove home that night in silence, but it was a good silence—a pondering silence.  Our new friend was with Jesus in paradise.

If tomorrow never comes for you, would you be in paradise, too?  Are you ready today to enter into eternity?  Have you met the Savior, Jesus?  Are you living for Him?

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

Goodnight, Runners.