Last Chance ::::::: Written September 2003


Have you ever stopped to think about how many different situations leave us faced with a last chance? Recently, I had the last chance to see my friend Bob Duke. At the time of my last chance to see him, I was unaware that it would be my last chance. Had I known that it was my last chance to see him or speak with him, I’m certain it would have changed what I did or said.

I look back and think of the last chance I had to see my Father and Mother, aunts, uncles, grandparents, school mates, neighbors, and friends. The one conclusion I can draw from looking back is that it appears that someday all of us will die. Another conclusion is that I did have a last chance to see them. One more conclusion is that in only some cases I had some idea that it was my last chance.

When my sons were younger and they misbehaved I would count, "One, two, three, four, five". They learned that if they continued to misbehave after I got to five, they would get a spanking. "Five" was their last chance and they knew it. (Actually it was "four" - they knew that they shouldn't miss the last chance.)

I went through a majority of my life separated from God. Fortunately, I humbly returned to Him before I missed my last chance. Since we don’t know when our life on earth will come to an end, we never know when our last chance to get right with our Maker will pass us by.

In Luke Chapter 12 verse 40 it states, "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."

For most of us, we don’t have a good guess when we will die. I’m fifty-one years old and when I was a young man I never imagined I would live as long as I already have. The Lord blessed me by keeping me on this earth long enough to recognize that I had lived a blessed life and it was time that I show some appreciation for my blessings. I came to this understanding just about four years ago.

I have always believed in God. I was raised a Lutheran and attended a Lutheran grade school for seven of my eight years of elementary school. We studied the Bible daily. Shortly after I began high school several events drastically changed my life and drew me away from my church. I didn’t completely pull away from God, just away from the church. For the next thirty five years I kept God at arms length. I would talk to Him when I had problems; it was like using the auto club – call when I’m broken down. I just didn’t maintain a relationship with Him. I never stopped to think that He was always with me whether I thought I needed Him or not.

I thought I was being a Christian, but I was trying to be one by myself. I used to be a "good works" Christian. I thought if I was a good person then I would probably get into heaven. I didn’t understand that we couldn’t get to heaven by being good, because no one can be good enough. We are all sinful by nature. I went through a huge part of my life excusing my own sins, when what I should have been doing was asking God to forgive my sins.

I finally recognized that I can only get to heaven by God’s grace and His mercy. I finally recognized that my admission to heaven was paid by His Son, Jesus, when He died on the cross for me and for you. I finally recognized this before I missed my last chance.

If you know someone that is unsure about their relationship with God, encourage them to find the Love that He has waiting for them before they miss their last chance.





Sharing God’s Love,



Sonny