What would you do if you knew with certainty that life on earth as you know it would cease while you are still living, and that this end would also include your family, friends and those you know? I don’t know this of course, but the thought is frightening!
What would become important and urgent? What things that used to be important to you would no longer be so? What would you continue to do and concentrate on that has been part of your life? What would you now seek to do in greater earnestness? What would you begin doing as much as possible? What would you stop doing as much as possible? How would your life until the time be different than it has been? Would you plan in detail or would you just wait? How would this be different from the thoughts of someone who did not know about Jesus’ coming and had a terminal illness?
What follows is what I/we are doing or have done.
The very first task would be to learn all I can about Lord Jesus and his teachings. This will of course take time, the rest of my life. Although I have said a brief prayer to our Heavenly Father almost nightly most of my life, only recently have I included Lord Jesus. Now I pray and think of Him often during the day.
Important also is daily prayer. It is important to think of Jesus and pray to him during the day as well as morning and night. Thanks to our Heavenly Father should be included. Whenever we are asking for something, prayers should begin with the Father, ending with “In Jesus’ name”.. Until recently I didn’t think I had any serious sins. I learned from the Bible that everyone on earth has some sins, even the purest in heart. On deep reflection I admitted mine to myself and prayed for forgiveness and will try hard not to repeat any of these. This is an ongoing task.
I have an Internet online Bible that makes it easy to search for passages of most interest and have read the Bible several times starting with Genesis in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New. I use the New International Version of the Bible, and have other books that have helped. I devote time daily if possible to this. Such study has not been a part of my life until recently. I use time formerly devoted to trivial pursuits for this.
I started on this course soon after accepting Jesus. I have used the book “Heaven Is So Real” as an opening and distributed the book from an initial purchase of ten and later over two hundred books. This effort had mixed reactions, but mostly positive. A friend in Ocala didn’t want me to send the book but he bought some and gave them to his relatives and friends. Others have pledged to read it. A few people said “this is not my thing” or something to that effect. I have pursued it with one of those. With the family, it will be an ongoing task but the first job is to alert them to the need to love Lord Jesus.
We have found a church and are attending. I am trying to learn about their philosophies and what is stressed. The church body and the pastor are sincere in their quest to embrace Jesus. I wrote a long letter to the pastor about my religious experiences, seeking guidance, and outlining my view of the church as it exists today. I have tried to help materially with problems and opportunities there.
For some years I have had a goal of looking for opportunities to be of service to others. The goal was to use my talents and experience to help where I can. For this reason I joined the Red Cross board and became chairman at a time when my contribution was most needed. Also I tried to help in the community as editor of the newsletter for about 18 months. Anyone who asks has always been given assistance with computer technology and this has been done for many years. I had a goal of being able to help young people but this has not been fulfilled. It is still a goal. I have tried to pass a message of hope and good thoughts to friends, and take every opportunity to do this. Anita and I have a loving relationship with our kids and we help each other.
While realizing that we need to preserve our funds for the time when it will be needed, we are giving a full tithe, and are trying to make up for some of the past neglect. We have always contributed to many charities, both local and worldwide, but more funds have been directed to the most worthy. We seek avenues where the largest need exists. The needy in the world and our community deserve more help. When funds became more limited, they were directed to charities that also spread the message of our Lord.
What things that were important to you would no longer be so?
While I don’t think we were ever greedy, I did continually strive for wealth. Some of this once gained was taken away by two serious investment mistakes. Looking back on this I can only wonder if I was being shown that the money should have gone to worthwhile causes instead of just being accumulated. Now our surplus if any will be used for worthy causes.
Some of the things that I once enjoyed and spent much time with are no longer important. While I do not intend to change my (our) lifestyle to any extent, where I will spend my time will be different. I want to spend much more time on the worship of Jesus and in helping to spread His message. Every day, as possible, I will spend time on this. Other activities will be worked in but some will be given less time than in the past. I intend however, to continue to do everything to help my family and friends as they wish, and to spend time with them, perhaps even more time than before.
While I have never regarded this as important, I know that time has been spent on learning and doing things with the idea that this would enhance my stature or business abilities. I no longer do this nor have any desire for this. I will however do and learn what I think will be useful to others.
What would I continue to do and concentrate on that has been part of my life?
This has been part of my goal in life for many years. I can try harder to seek these opportunities and do whatever is necessary even if it takes more time and resources.
Without doing this, many of the goals could not be tackled and certainly not accomplished. I must continue to make sure that sufficient time is allotted for physical activities. (Anita will say “O good, you can help more in the garden.”) . I continue to ask for God’s help in the quest for good mental and physical health for Anita and I, our family and people we know. Some in our family have had tough times physically but thanks to God are now doing reasonably well.
For mental fitness, I have always looked for challenges that would stretch my brain. Now I am doing this in seeking much more knowledge of the Bible, Lord Jesus, and our Heavenly Father.
All of my family have always enjoyed the outdoors and have spent time observing the wonders of nature. I hope we can spend much more time on this instead of on so many mundane tasks. Most of these, while seemingly gratifying at the time are soon forgotten. Strolls in beautiful gardens, at the beach, in nature walks are remembered for years. We can also use this time to communicate with the Lord in our own way.
Except for brief periods, Anita and I believe that our lives have been very happy. The bad times were brief and often of our own doing. The good times have wonderfully pervaded our lives most of the time. I believe that we have had Angels watching over us all these years.
What would you stop doing as far as possible?
Too often I have spent time fretting about what is going on with affairs over which I have no control. If I cannot control them, why worry? I should spend my thinking about betterment, and time on things that can be influenced for the better.
Hobbies aside, which I believe are enriching and useful, I have spent time on things that are soon forgotten and in retrospect should not have occupied time. Every day things that look interesting but even on the surface do not appear to be of real benefit, take time to investigate. Some of these, particularly computer related and items in the media simply should be dismissed as interesting but not worthy of time. I plan to continue to learn about the wonders of the world, and new developments, but not spend an inordinate amount of time on these. Of course things around the home and yard must be kept in good repair and improvements made if needed.
A lot of the time spent in my office over the years has been in keeping up with the latest technology. This has been a benefit in broadening my abilities to serve others and to help the company I once owned. Some of this time though was simply spent on keeping up on things that I will never really use. This was largely stopped several years ago, but I still am carried away occasionally.
Again, if I cannot change an issue by fretting about it, this should be stopped. There are of course issues where I could use my talents for the benefit of the causes. I will seek these in a passive way and if it seems that I can contribute something and still carry out the goals above, this will be done.
How would your life until the time be different than it has been?
Besides all the above changes and goals, I will try to be more caring for those who I can help in some way. I will spend time learning about the needs of others without prying.
Would you plan in detail or would you just wait?
I have never waited for something to just happen; I always like to have a plan. The above points are the basis of my plan. I will use these as an active life guide, revising it and enlarging it as seems appropriate. I hope that my loved ones will see some merit in my actions and perhaps adopt some of this in their lives.
How would this be different from the thoughts of someone who did not know about Jesus’ coming but had a terminal illness?
I believe this is far different in many ways. Until recently I have never had nor witnessed on a daily basis anyone with a terminal illness, so I don’t know how they react. From reading and a little observation though, it seems that the emotions of these unfortunate persons run the gamut. Some are so depressed that they know they won’t make it, while others remain optimistic. I would think though that few of these think in terms of the end time for the earth. They no doubt are concerned about death and what may or may not happen thereafter. If they have faith and have been saved, they would look forward with confidence. Some may have paid lip service to praise of the Lord, but never really embraced Him. They probably think that they will go to Heaven if they have lived a good life, or perhaps think that their death is the end. How many actually change their lifelong thinking because of their illness, only they know.