The Letter I Wish I Had Shared Earlier (NASB)

The following is a true story, as shared by a friend of mine… Hi, my name is Katherine. It may seem strange or awkward for a complete stranger to hand something to you, or even more strange for them to share personal details of their life (as I’m going to do). But this is a message I wish I would have shared many years ago with my big brother. I missed my opportunity to share it with him, and he is gone now, so I share it with you with the prayer that you will hear the burden on my heart. Some years back, my older brother, Jon, had a severe allergic reaction to something he ate. His body shut down, and almost immediately, he died. He was 19. I remember the phone call from my father, the anguish in his voice, my agonizing screams of anger and disbelief … and then crying—until I couldn’t cry anymore. Then I remember the preacher talking with us a few days later, “Was Jon baptized?”, “Had he believed in Jesus to be his Savior?” I never forgot those questions. No, I knew my brother wasn’t baptized. Had he believed in Jesus? Maybe … we’d grown up going to church meetings and Christian camps. We’d sung Christian songs. We agreed with the Bible … but had Jon ever prayed to the Lord Jesus and asked Him to wash him clean from his sins and be his Savior? To this day, I still don’t know. Everything within me hopes that he called out to Jesus—even if just in the last minutes of his life—to really save him. But I’m still not completely sure. This is my reason for sharing with you. The Bible says we don’t know what our life will be like tomorrow. “Your life is like the morning fog, it is here a little while, and then its gone” (James 4:14 NLT). Many of us think “gone” will be when we’re 75 or 85 in some nice way, surrounded by our family, after we’ve lived our life and done all we want to do and made everything right with God. In reality, we never know when we will be taken from this earth. My brother died at age 19; my neighbor died at 44, in a freak car accident. And another neighbor at 77, who was perfectly healthy until a complication in a routine surgery. I share all this to ask: if you died today—perhaps from a car accident on the way home from work, or from a gunman who walked through here on a shooting spree, or a sudden allergic reaction to a food you didn’t think you were allergic to—do you have assurance that you would be with the Lord? I never got to see my brother in the moments before He died, and I didn’t speak with him about the Lord Jesus in the months leading up to his death, but I share with you now what I wish I had shared with him then: please don’t delay to accept the Lord Jesus as your savior. There is a God in heaven who created this earth, and He has a wonderful son, the Lord Jesus, who came to this earth and lived as a perfect man. He had no sin in Him, and He came demanding nothing for Himself. While He was here, He loved and cared for all—even the lowest and the most unlovable. He did nothing that deserved death, but He allowed Himself to be brutally nailed to a cross, mocked and made fun of, and pierced with a spear, all the while loving and forgiving those who were killing Him. Why? Because He loves us, He sympathizes with us. He walked this earth and knows—we can’t do this all alone! He wants to give us His life! He knows that all of us will one day die. The Bible says we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Who can come into the presence of the Lord? Who can see His glory? There is only one who is worthy: the Lord Jesus. If you look to Him, the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to be your Savior and to forgive your sins—He will give you His resurrection life; that same life of Christ that overcame difficulty, hardship, temptation, and even death! “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Not just life for today, free from the weight of sin, strengthened with His grace to face the many troubles in this world; but hope for tomorrow—that if something happens, and you do die today—you (and your family and friends) have the security that you will be with the Lord. Our life is like the morning fog, here a little while, and then gone. We truly never know when we will die—or when the Lord Jesus will come. If you’ve never become a Christian, please, call out to the Lord Jesus today. If you have doubts or questions—come to Him anyway! He sympathizes completely—even with our doubting and confusion—even with our problems. Be honest with Him. Tell him, “Lord Jesus, I don’t know how to pray. I have doubts/concerns/questions/difficult circumstances. But if you are who you say you are, come into my heart, make yourself real to me, wash me clean from my sins, and give me your gift of eternal life. Lord I need you, I have been living my own life, and going my own way—but now Lord, I submit to you. Have your way in me. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus.” “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). I don’t know where my brother is today. But if he did call out to Jesus to save him before he died, how I wish I knew and had assurance that Jon was with the Lord. If you have prayed earnestly to the Lord to come into your life—please, tell someone, “I’ve decided to follow Jesus.” If you are still uncertain that the Lord can solve your problems, or that it will really be worth it, or even if the Lord is real or not, will you at least “try him out”? Come to Him in all honesty—whatever your situation may be—no challenge is too great for the Lord. He is waiting. He loves you so much. He can give you so much more than anything or anyone in this world can offer. Bring all your doubts and questions and difficulties and problems and baggage … and just come. Call out to Him. The Bible even says “test Him.” “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse … and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows’” (Malachi 3:10). If you think the Lord can’t meet you or can’t deal with your problems or isn’t real or isn’t worth giving your life over to … won’t you at least test Him? Call out to Him in honesty, hand your life over to Him … and see if He doesn’t come and open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing. Blessing doesn’t imply you will suddenly be rich or famous or have perfect health—but see if he doesn’t handle your situation, reveal that He is real, provide for your needs, or fill you with unspeakable joy. Test Him in this: hand yourself over to Him … if you honestly do this, I promise you will never never never regret it. Jesus Christ is Lord, and He is worth a life that is completely surrendered, completely handed over to Him. The time is short, your life is like a morning fog, and the challenges in this world are getting greater and greater. Please, call out to Him today. With much love and care in Christ, Katherine