The Offer

Tuesday, 19 Mar 2002

Phil asked me shortly before he died, "Mom, is there really a Book of Life?". I wonder what was going on in his head that day? I wonder what he was picturing about just such a book. I wonder if he thought it was just some dreamed-up fairy tale with "And they all lived happily ever after...The End." written in it. You know, maybe it does say that. Maybe there are lists and lists of names and names, maybe written there by the very hand of God, and at the end, when the book is just about ready to be closed and the gates of heaven swing closed also (although I think they are always open, I'll have to look that up), the last words of God the Father are "And they all lived happily ever after...The Beginning". Wow! Can you imagine that? I barely can, but I want to. And I'm glad to be part of that book...the one Phil asked me about. The one that I read to him about after he asked me that question.

Oh, that's interesting. Guess what I found in the same paragraph about the Lamb's book of life when I was looking up the scripture verse?

Revelation 21:25
On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
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I guess if there is no night, there is no need to close and lock the door! Sort of like a 24 hour 7-11? No, not exactly, because they even have locks on those doors. Asks the comedians about that joke!

But getting back to the book of life and the temple (heaven).

Revelation 21:27
Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
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I bet Phil had read some about this in the Left Behind series and was thinking deeply about all of this. He liked that series and had read a couple of the books. He was halfway through one of them when God called him home...it must have been interesting for him to actually experience the reality of heaven after just reading about this fictional story based on the end times in Scripture! But do you know what? Phil still had questions about grace. He still did not feel worthy to enter in those heavenly gates, even though we had discussed God's grace. Here was a boy who had suffered for 5½ years patiently, who had given his life to Christ, who was gentle and kind and giving and hardly ever spoke a sharp word, and he questioned whether there might be something that would hinder his entrance. He said to me, "Mom, I'm just afraid that when I get there, there's going to be something that keeps me out". Meaning, he had done something unforgivable?!! He was young, and grace is a hard thing to grasp, even for us old folks! We try and we try and we try to be "good enough", to work hard enough, to pray diligently enough so that we will "qualify" for the free gift that has been given to us??? It's a free gift! Duhh!! Why is it so hard to grasp that? Maybe because in this world when something is too good to be true, we have been told not to believe it! I got a call today that said Jim and I have been chosen as the winners of two free airline tickets to Las Vegas, two nights stay and a couple of other goodies. ALL WE NEED TO DO is to call them back within 24 hours to claim our prize! Did I phone them right back and say, book us on the next flight? No! I called Jim at work and told him to call home (I got his answering machine), and to listen to the message that I had saved about our "free gift", and see what was up with that? In no way was I going to call them right back without talking to Jim and claim our "winnings" because I believed we had actually won! It was "too good to be true!", so there's no way it could be! )

Phil was questioning this very same thing...Mom, this sounds too good to be true. All I have to do is accept this free gift, believe in the Giver, and my name will be jotted down into that book allowing me entrance to heaven itself? Mom??? Are you sure?? That is what he was asking me.

It was probably the day before he went home, if not the day, when he questioned me about there maybe being something that would keep him out of heaven. That God might say no to him. He knew it was now or never. He had to get this right. Soon there would be no turning back. No time to change anything.

How did I answer that question? Not of my own wisdom, not with my own thoughts, but I turned to the scripture that talks about the thief on the cross next to Jesus. It says

Luke 23:42-43
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
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I said, "Phil, there was nothing he had to do, but turn to Jesus, and Jesus told him that today you will be with me in paradise." There was nothing he had to do, no work he needed to get done, no time to be "good enough", he was a thief. But because he turned to Jesus and accepted Him as the Son of God, the gift was his, free of charge.

Jesus was there on the cross paying for it as they spoke to one another. That's an interesting thought that just came to me...

No credit card was handed over, no dollar bills were given, but the very life of the Son of God was being handed over for our sins right before the thief's eyes. For our sins. For our redemption. For our ticket into eternity. For his.

But wasn't he (the thief) shameful and deceitful? The very things that verse above talks about as being impure and not allowed in? Yes. But aren't we all? Why do you think Christ was hung on the cross? Why do you think His blood dripped from that thorny crown on his head and from the holes His hands? Because we needed to be washed clean with that very blood.

Romans 323-25
For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.
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Even Phil, a young boy who had been sick much of his life and had not tasted much of the worldly passions that can lead us astray, felt unworthy. We are all unworthy, but that is not the question. The question is, will we accept the cleansing and be made clean and accept the gift and be made whole?

Phil did, and that is why I know that he is now in paradise with Jesus, with that thief, whoever he was, and with so many others who I know are there. Those who believed.

Where will Phil be when I arrive? Will we really meet in the clouds? That's the way it is described.

1 Thessalonians 417
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever.
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I can handle that! I would love to meet up with Phil in the clouds. He talked about being a pilot! Well, he'll be flying, that's for sure!

Seems like a fantasy doesn't it? A dream perhaps! Maybe the ravings of a lunatic...! Well, I've seen too much and come to far to believe that. I believe that the Word of God is true, and that even though there may be some things I don't understand and some scripture that doesn't make total sense to me, I will keep digging and learning and asking for understanding of it all because it is exciting reading! It is hopeful reading and the deeper I dig, the more true it becomes in my life. The more I see God at work in the every day, and the more comfort and peace I feel about where Phil is now. I may not be able to picture it completely, and I may not understand it completely, but I know it to be true. Our Pastor talked on Sunday about Faith. He read the verse in

Mark 924
"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
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He talked about this verse and about this father who was asking Jesus to heal his son. About this father's doubts and ours, but that is what faith is all about.

2 Corinthians 57
We live by faith, not by sight.
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Yes, I believe in what I have not seen, as we are called to do. But I also believe a whole lot in what I have seen on this earth. The things that I have witnessed with Phil and his illness and his dying and the miracles that have taken place before and since then. They are real, they are visible, and I refuse to be blind to all that God is doing because I have never seen the face of God. Someday I will. I will stand before God and I will see His face. And the Lamb's book of life will be pulled out and opened to the page with my name on it, and I will be welcomed Home, and Phil and I will laugh and hug and maybe we'll do "remember when's", and maybe we'll be able to share all that has happened, and we will have an eternity to spend together rejoicing over the fact that we turned and said remember me Jesus when you come into your kingdom...I want to follow you to paradise!

Not as thieves, but not perfect either. Just a mother and son who have been forgiven because they said "Yes" when offered the free gift of eternal life.

Love, Diane