Ministers Blogs
“Are you ready to live?”
Are you ready to live? Often times we get so busy with life that we forget to prepare to live. Maybe you can picture the following in your mind.
Agony claws my mind. I am a statistic. When I first got here, I felt very much alone. I was overwhelmed by grief, and I expected to find sympathy. I found no sympathy. I saw only thousands of others whose bodies were as badly mangled as mine. I was given a number and places in a category. This was called "Traffic Fatalities." The day I died was an ordinary school day. How I wish I had taken the bus! But I was too cool for the bus. I remember how I wheeled the car out for Mom. "Special Favor," I pleaded. "All the kids drive." When the 2:50 p.m. bell rang, I threw my books into the locker. Free until tomorrow morning! I ran to the parking lot, excited at the thought of driving a car and being my own boss. It doesn’t matter how the accident happened, I was goofing off – going too fast, and taking crazy chances. But I was enjoying my freedom and having fun. The last thing I remember was passing an old lady who seemed to be going awfully slow. I heard a crash and felt a terrific jolt. Glass and steel everywhere. My whole body seemed to be turning inside out. I heard myself scream. Suddenly, I awakened. It was very quiet. A police officer was standing over me. I saw a doctor. My body was mangled. I was saturated with blood. And pieces of jagged glass were sticking out all over. Strange that I could not feel anything. HEY! I cried. Don’t put that sheet over my head. I can’t be dead. I’m only 17. I’ve got a date tonight. I’m supposed to have a wonderful life ahead of me. I haven’t lived yet. I can’t be dead. Later I was placed in a drawer. My folks came to identify my body. Why did they have to see me like this? Why did I have to look at mom’s eyes when she faced the most terrible ordeal of her life? Dad suddenly looked very old. He told the man in charge, "Yes – That is our son." The funeral was weird. I saw all my relatives and friends walk toward the casket. They looked at me with the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen. Some of my buddies were crying. And a few girls touched my hand as they walked away. Please – somebody – wake me up! Get me out of here. I can’t bear to see Mom and Dad in such pain. My grandparents are so weak from grief they can barely walk. My brother and sister are like zombies. They move like robots. In a daze. Everybody. No one can believe this. I can’t believe it either. I’M SO UN-PREPARED TO BE DEAD. Please don’t bury me. I’m not dead. I have a lot of living to do. I want to laugh and play again. I want to sing and run once again. Please don’t put me in the ground. I promise if you give me just one more chance God, I’ll be the most careful driver in the whole world. All I want is one more chance. Please God, I’m only 17 (Written By: John Berrio).
Are you ready to live? This young man thought he was living, living life to it’s fullest, yet he was not ready to die. We never know when that day may come when our life on this earth will be no more. So I ask again are you ready to live, live for eternity? It is important that we prepare ourselves for the next life. Jesus says in John 14:2-3, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Although Jesus does the preparing we must respond to what He is doing. Mark 16:16 proclaims, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Are you ready to live? Live for eternity in Heaven. (By Mark T. Tonkery)
