John 14:1-6
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ ”
I was asked to do a devotional for my dear friend, Sam Tubb, who went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, June 1st. I wanted to share it with all of our readers in the hope that it may touch others who have been or will be experiencing the loss.
What wonderful words of comfort we find in these six verses. Jesus knew that He was going to leave His disciples in the very near future. I think He knew that there would be very heavy hearts because of His departure. He wanted to leave them (and us) with words that would lift grief stricken hearts to see the hope of eternity.
For the true born again believer, there is reason for assurance and joy as we say farewell to our days on earth and hello to an eternity that will never end. Actually for the true believer, we have already died to Christ and passed from death to life. So the last breath we take on this side of eternity will prepare us for the first breath of celestial air. Sam is breathing that crystal clear celestial air right now. He fought long and hard to beat the ravages of cancer, and prayed for healing. God has heard his prayer and he has received his “perfect healing.”
Back in 1990 our daughter was very near death. I was visiting her in her hospital room one afternoon. It was just the two of us in her room. She looked over at me and said, “You know dad, I feel that I have been cheated. Grandpa lived to be 74 (Sam’s age) and I am just 35. I feel as if I have been cheated out of half of my life.”
Wow! For once in my life I did not respond immediately. On the way home that night I prayed for wisdom. I needed to have some graphic way to speak hope and encouragement when I returned the next day. It was then that the Holy Spirit directed me to use sand as an example.
When I got home I took a piece of typing paper and went into the garage. I brushed some sand onto the paper and went directly to the kitchen. With a bright light and sharp knife I counted out 74 tiny grains of sand. It was such a tiny amount of sand that I wondered what to put it in. Then I thought of those tiny sample perfume bottles. Luckily my wife had one, so I poured the grains into it. It hardly covered the bottom.
The next day when I entered our daughter’s room, I placed the bottle on her bed. She looked puzzled and asked what it was. I told her it was grandpa. Then she really looked puzzled. I said, “You remember yesterday when you said you felt like you had been cheated out of half of your life?” She nodded.
I went on. “Try to imagine that the entire earth was one big ball of fine sand and each tiny grain represents one year of eternity. It would be more than that, but just start there. Now imagine that you remove these 74 grains of sand from the huge ball of sand. What are these 74 grains compared to all the billions and billions of others?” She replied, “Nothing.”
It was time for my words of reality. I pointed out that if 74 years was nothing, then her 35 years were also nothing. It really does not matter how long or how short our life span might be. It is the decision we make to receive Jesus Christ by personal invitation that really matters.
I have known Sam Tubb for well over 40 years. First in Officer’s Training School, and later as Minuteman Missile Combat Crew Commanders. Over the years I have been blessed to see Jesus become more and more real in Sam’s life. That is the greatest accomplishment he could ever achieve.
As we come to confirm the reality of Sam Tubb’s final departure from this earth, his spirit we leave with God. For we know the merciful Judge of all the earth will do right. It is up to us who remain to receive Jesus Christ by personal invitation. It is only in this manner that we will obtain eternal life and spend all of eternity with our precious Lord and those believers, such as Sam, who have gone on before us. What a reunion we will have when we are all gathered together to never part!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
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