This story comes from an ordinary family gathering viewed from an eternal perspective. Enjoy!
On July 4th, my brothers and I sat comfortably in my oldest brother Eddie’s living room casually discussing our week. We soon learned that earlier in the week, Rob fell fourteen feet off a housetop. Now, he builds log homes and probably works harder than any employee he has. He said that he was placing trusses when he stepped back, lost his footing and there was nowhere to go but down. Then, shaking his head, Rob chuckled, and said, I realize that at my age, (fifty-two), a fall like that could have killed me, but once again, my guardian angel was there.”
Over the years, we have enjoyed joking with Rob about being ‘accident prone’. As the two brothers rehashed many incidents, I listened intently. Just a few years ago, Rob was in a motorcycle accident. He cut his wrist badly another time while working in a lumberyard. On another occasion, he was roofing a house, moved too close to the tar barrel and burned one side of his face, ear and forearm. Because he wore a beard at the time, the hair on his face singed and caught the brunt of the facial burn.
Eddie laughed next and said, “These escapades go back to when Rob was only 3 years old. He went to cross the street behind me”, Eddie said with a chuckle, “and then he hesitated before crossing over and ran right out in front of a car. He rolled underneath and came out at the back end of the vehicle completely unharmed.”
I have to admit that Rob has been quite a lucky fellow. Laughingly, I said, “Rob, you are like a cat with 9 lives.” He responded with, “I’ve probably had more chances than that if the truth be known.” Then he said, “Let’s just hope my guardian angel doesn’t go to sleep like she does on the Capital One TV commercial showing today.” We decided that in reality, Rob’s angel must have looked away for a moment when Rob fell off the house; however, she did turn back around just in time to cushion his fall.
Now, here is the part that really made me stop and think. Rob said, and I quote, “You know, of all the times I’ve been hurt, the one accident that stands out most in my mind is the burn. In all the other injuries, the pain came and went, but the burn was a constant, steady, pain.”
Now, let’s pause and catch the reality of this statement. No pain Rob experienced was greater than the pain induced by a single burn. He was in the hospital for over a month after his motorcycle accident. The doctors had to restructure his broken jaw. He was a mess! Yet the pain endured from this accident paled in comparison to the burn.
My mind went riveting to all the people that we may encounter on a daily basis headed toward this kind of destruction. And, trust me when I tell you that if they do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, all they have to look forward to is eternal separation from God in a fiery pit—constant, steady endless pain as Rob clearly describes.
Think about that! The greatest physical pain known to man awaits them for an eternity. Folks, as Christians, this thought should burden our hearts for lost souls to the point that we become more zealous in our efforts to seek and serve them with the healing balm of salvation that Jesus has to freely offer.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:15
These song lyrics and art are tales, tides and twinkling lights - tunes telling stories of warmth and sun, city and sand, paths that lead, and the coins we can keep in the Karma Bank. Spirit's been bypassed for sorrow, dreaming of a better tomorrow .
