47 and headed for Heaven

By the time you are in your 40’s, birthdays have lost some of their excitement.  At this stage of life, people are generally so busy, it’s just an excuse to go out to eat and maybe exchange a gift or two.  Cards are opened, quickly read and tossed aside.  Sometimes a prayer of thanksgiving for another year is muttered and life just keeps moving on. It’s just another birthday.

For me, this one was different;  As I assume it would be for anyone who has faced their mortality head on.  Humanly speaking, this will most likely be my last birthday.  My ALS has progressed quickly.  In fact, it was this very weekend last year, when Dena & I were convinced that something was REALLY wrong and began our online self-diagnosis and our serious pursuit to get into a neurologist.  This past June at my clinic visit, I was told in general terms, that I had 12 to 18 months.  I think the doctor was being generous with that prediction.

But instead of being depressed, I try to enjoy each day and find the humor.  I woke up on my birthday and told Dena that “47 is the new 94!”  She actually cracked up at that one.

The reality is that none of us have ANY guarantee that we will live to see our next birthday.  Death is as sure as birth.  It’s a fact of life, and it’s all been decided ahead of time (Psalm 139:16). We may be surprised and think a person’s life is cut short, but God is not.  His plan for me appears to be that my time on earth is waning.  I don’t know why and I can’t say I understand;  Someday it will be made clear to me; for now, I choose trust (Proverbs 3:5&6).

The truth is that anyone reading this blog could die before I do.  Accidents happen daily and most people don’t get a warning that their death is coming.  Anyone younger than 80 is probably not thinking that their end could be right around the corner.

So I beg of you to stop and consider whether or not you are ready to meet God.  Not based on if you have lived a good life or not, but on if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the only mediator between God and man (I Timothy 2:5).  He lived a perfect, sinless life and died the most unjust death on the cross to pay for my sins and yours (Romans 5:8). Three days later, He overcame death when he rose from his grave (I Corinthians 15:4).  His gift of salvation is free and the choice is up to everyone individually (Romans 6:23 and Romans 10:13).

Since I have the assurance of a future eternity with my Savior in Heaven, I chose to live this birthday as happily as I could.  There were no tears that day.  In fact, there was a lot of laughter as my family opened and read to me almost 300 cards.  Most of them were funny and the rest were very kind.  Thank you to everyone who encouraged me in this way!

Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.