Farewell
This post was contributed by guest blogger Richard Manlove.
I believe we all hope when the end of our life has come that we will have time to say the things on our heart to those we love. Here, in Acts 20, Paul takes the time to speak his heart to his beloved Ephesian brethren. We can learn from his heart about the things of importance in this life. Paul was authentic in his living. He was humble serving their needs, especially their spiritual needs, before meeting his own wants. He was genuine often moved to tears in his concern and love for his brothers and sisters. He was fearless in his proclamation of the “whole will of God’ not tailoring it for popularities sake. He was courageous considering his live “worth nothing” for the sake of the gospel. He was honest and industrious meeting his own physical needs and the needs of others. He was blameless before all men in all things. When our end comes what can we honestly say about ourselves? Can we compare to any of these things Paul thought were important in his life? We might say a lot of things out of love of ourselves but are we beloved by all? What might they say? Will the church gather and will there be tears, embracing and kissing at our departing speech? After we are gone will we be missed the next time God’s people gather? Are we missed now?
When I read this I think of Brother Walt Danyuer,
and his final days on earth. He wrote letters to
the people he loved, so there was no doubt left that
he loved us, and he also told us what expected of us.
To carry on the Good Work.
His letter to us, inspired me to write letter to all
my family and friends already. I had thought of
waiting till my death to give them out, but as the holidays
approach, maybe I should give them out now.
I actually dont’ have much concern if I missed after
I die, because it’s not about me. I hope they can say
she is taking many souls to heaven with her.
You closing questions stings, “are we missed now?”
That question is going to linger with me for awhile.
Alot to ponder there.
Is it vanity to want to be missed?
Dayla,
Several Christmas holiday seasons ago, me,aka Scrooge, covered the outside of our house in lights and wrote my wife, each of my children, and others letters of love. They were all convinced that I had some dreaded terminal illness and was close to death. They still laugh about that today. I am not sure about what I accomplished with that. We all want to leave our footprints in the sands ot time. We want to know that, after we go to be with Christ, there is a hole in the lives of others because we are gone. That is not vanity. That is how God made us. Christ told the disciples that they would have a hole in them when he left so God would send the Spirit to fill it. Perhaps we should ensure that each of our loved ones are Christians and have the Spirit to help them cope when we are gone.
Richard,
I am inspired by your writings. You are truly a man of God. Thank you for your words of wisdom. I can tell you awhile back I had a lump in my chest and and of course you sometimes think the worst. I was due for a hunting trip so I told myself as I was sitting in the tree stand that I would write letters to all those that I hold dear. Well as I started the first letter to my granddaughter and about 4 senentences into the letter I suddenly stop. She knows how much I love her because I continually tell her how much I love her and all the things I do for her. The same is true with all my grandchilden and their parents. I even go as far as to tell my wife of 35 years how much I love her and what she means to me. I also try to make it a point to tell those around me what I think of them also. The point is that we should live our lives as if we were dying. There shouldn’t be anyone that doesn’t know how we feel about them. Will I be missed? Without a doubt. The sadness will not be for me but rather for those I leave behind.
Back in the tree stand I dismissed the letter to the loved ones and rather wrote the letter in my mind that started out as “Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and thank you for the love and grace that you have given me.” What have I done to bring honor and glory to You? Perhaps I should live my life in preparation for that time when I stand before Him.