I looked around on people numbering thousands upon thousands, and even in the tens of thousands"
I spotted my Grandpa through the crowd"funny, he was running around in circles praising God. The old age and aged and hurting body was no more. The legs that had hurt for so long now moved without pain.
Near him was my Grandma. She was sitting with my uncle, who"d left the earth at the age of 22 in a tragic car accident"they were sitting there, recalling the memories that they had together"tears flowing from their cheeks in joyous reunion.
As I continued making my way through the multitudes of people I saw Jon and Jessica two of my Catholic friends, kneeling down praising and thanking God. Right next to them was Caleb, my Church of Christ friend singing acapella right next to Johnny, a Baptist friend of mine.
As I continued through the crowd I heard some commotion coming from the back corner"of course it was the Pentecostals. United Pentecostal, Church of God, and the Assembly of God all back there whoopin" and hollerin", clapping, and singing at the top of their lungs.
I recognized some of the faces from pictures in my church history book and old family photos. There was my Uncle Jesse, healed once and for all from the cancer that attacked him so many times on earth. Next to him was all of my Grandpa"s family, many of whom I"d never had to opportunity to meet.
I made my way on through the crowd, feeling a great sense of joy and awe"
I noticed a group of gentlemen (quite scruffy looking, I might add) sitting around in a circle, talking about all of the great things God had done for them"I recognized the pattern of speech and a few of the faces though I"d never before met any of them. I heard them talk of how they"d fervently prayed for people they"d never met"
As I edged my way closer"I heard one of them say something about "Fro." I realized that I was looking at a group of guys, who I had discussed doctrine with, prayed for, and who had lifted me up in prayer more times than I can imagine, back on earth."the group from huntingnet"Chuck, RebelHog, LBR, bigcountry, Soilarch, mt hands, Snooky, Rev, mgman"their prayers had been heard by the Father and had helped me make it through the tough times in my life. Though many times we disagreed, their encouragement and wisdom had not fallen upon deaf ears and blind eyes.
I was seeing lots of saints, gone on before me"but I had yet to see the person I"d longed to see my whole life. Then I heard him"the most piercing voice I"d ever heard"the most powerful voice of all.
I turned to my right to where it came from and everyone else suddenly vanished. As I looked into piercing eyes of love the scarred hand of my Savior motioned me to come nearer. I tried to walk but couldn"t because I"d already fallen to my knees. So"He made His way to me".
He"d done this many years before"when I was so lost I couldn"t find my way"or make it to Him, He CAME to me. He lifted me up to my feet and we started walking and talking. We"d talked so many times before, but this time it was different. Here I was looking at the face of my Lord, walking next to Him, and hearing his audible voice with my own two ears.
All of a sudden we seemed to be in front of a big movie sized screen: I thought we were about to watch a record of my life, but interestingly enough it didn"t start at my birth"it started at a Vacation Bible School altar call. I instantly realized the place. I had made my commitment to Christ on that day so many years earlier. Where"d the rest of my life go? Forgotten. That was before I came to Christ. As I stood there next to Jesus, we watched my life flash by on the screen"ALL of it.
Every second of my life was being displayed before my Lord and me.
No Lord, don"t look at that time when I ashamedly hid the fact that I was a "Christian" by laughing at and partaking in those extremely crude jokes. No Lord, don"t look at the time when I watched that movie that cursed your name and had scenes in it that no man should watch.
Hey lookey there, see, I"m not all bad"that"s me praying for my friends and family. Wait"there"s me with those same friends that I was praying for"hanging out with them"but not saying anything about You. Look Lord, there"s me memorizing a part of Scripture. Man I did good.
The screen suddenly flashed to anothersceneand the Lord looked me in the face and said, "That man right there, the one who smelled of alcohol walking by the campus of your Bible school, why didn"t you say anything to him about Me? Why didn"t you show him My work in your life? Why didn"t you show him the delivering power I put into your hands? Why didn"t you lead him to Me? Why didn"t you show him My love?
I fell to the ground ashamed"not knowing what to say. Then Jesus said, "That was the opportunity I was going to use to reach that man. I was going to use you to do it, but you decided that someone else could, and he slipped on by. That afternoon as the man was stumbling drunken across the street, he was hit by a semi-truck and killed. Why didn"t you do something?"
Stunned"I didn"t know what to say. I knew nothing about that man, how could I have told him about Jesus? How could I have helped him? I wondered who the drunken man was. "Jesus, who was he," I humbly asked.
Jesus looked me square in the eyes and said, "His name was Rye Bailey. He was 25 at the time. He"d grown up in church and due to family circumstances he"d walked away from the truth he"d once known. YOU missed the opportunity to witness to him, to lead him back to Me"and hours later he eternally perished."
I realized the point my Lord was making: I was thelost man, but here I was standing in the presence of my Lord because someone had taken to the time to witness to me, to pray for me, and to lead me in righteousness and truth.
(Thank you Lord for people who share and show your love through actions and not just words. God help me not miss out on chances to bring people into your kingdom through accurately and effectively presenting the Gospel to them.)
As I stood there the Lord slowly reached over and wiped the tears from my eyes. The TV screen was now gone. Jesus took me by the hand and led me to a place where I once again saw hundreds and hundreds of people.
It seemed as if they knew me. As I was standing there a man approached me. I didn"t recognize him. He came to me and said, "Rye, I"ve been waiting here to thank you for the money you gave to the homeless shelter back in 2005. Because of it I was given warm meal, a place to lay my head, and presented the Gospel of Christ, which changed my life forever. I"ve watched you and awaited your arrival."
One by one they came to me and told me about how something I had done had changed their lives and had effect on them in coming to the one true God. OurLord and Savior Jesus Christ.I looked over at Jesus"tears welling up in my eyes"as he gazed deep into my soul"a smile appeared upon His face, and I heard the words"the words I"d longed to hear""Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
__________________
πνεύμα γ*μισα
"Error never shows itself in its naked reality in order not to be discovered. On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself."
-Irenaeus of Lyon
A most excellent post young Brother Fro . . .as the song goes "I can only imagine"
Actually I'm mainly bumping this up so the others have another chance to not miss it.
A good work.
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Very nice Fro- I really enjoyed it- a lot.
Your story reminds me of a song that I recorded in my last CD called "Thank You" by Ray Boltz..
I fyou are interested I would like to send you a copy of mt CD..If not that is Ok too, But your story is a dead on match for that song and it inspired me to offer it to you.
I must say though that there are only 2 Christian songs on it and the rest are from the sixties...But I think you might like it..
Let me know, either way , its cool.
Take care, man..
Leep Out:
It wasn"t quite like I expected" (long)
"
