What would be important for you to do in your last days?

What would be important for you to do in your last days?

It is truly human to think about our death. Mortality. We know we are not here forever, but what if you knew for sure that you only had this week left?

There are so many things we could do, but would we?

There are so many things we’d want to say, but could we?

I sat with my dad for the last 14 months of his life. I spent so much time listening, encouraging, crying, and loving. Many times, we thought it was my dad’s final day, and we made sure to surround him with love and comfort until it was.

Watching and walking with him I learned lessons that have made me stronger in spirit and faith. He battled guilt, fear, uncertainness, loneliness (even though we never left him alone), and doubt.

Did he do everything he should have as he should have?

I spent hours of every day assuring him that he was truly a “good and faithful servant”.

Yet it was not my word he needed to hear those words from.

“One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, "Which command is the most important of all? "

Jesus answered, "The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these."

Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices."

When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to question him any longer. ~ Mark 12:28-34

Jesus experienced a gamut of feelings in a whirlwind of days.

He cursed a fig tree.

He patiently preached and encouraged those who sat with Him in His Father’s house.

He kept his closest friends near him, encouraged them, poured wisdom and love into them.

He had the hair on his neck raise up when those that opposed him and sought his demise tried to publicly challenge him attempting to show he was a false prophet, yet the facts that flowed forward clearly showed their lies and wicked intentions to the decibel that they wound up being silenced in front of the same crowd they wished to rouse.

He felt the sand in the hourglass passing exponentially, yet he didn’t seek solace he stayed present guiding and teaching until the very last hour possible.

I did all I could to assure my father he had made a difference in this world guided by his faith, love, and dedication to his family and his God.

Jesus did all he could to implore on his friends and followers to head the words, walk the walk, and be wary of the ones that would cause you to stumble, fall, and doubt.

I learned more from my father in 14 months than I had in my 39 years, and believe me I learned an immense amount from my father over those 39 years!

Jesus poured impassioned effort into making sure his final days strengthened those who would continue the walk without him.

There is something about the rare knowledge of knowing that your last days are quickly approaching, that fills you with a passionate desire and determination to implore the wisdom you can, forgive and ask forgiveness as rapidly as possible, and love with a vigorous passion that your body has never seen produced from you.

What if we lived that way all of the time?

What if we took the words that Jesus made the purposeful, passionate effort to share once again, using some of the last of his moments to patiently re-remind us of the words from the Old Testament that His Father gave to us long before Jesus was walking his final steps on this earth:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these."

These words offered by a man who knew death was days away, comforted a dying man, not just on the Tuesday of his final week but every day.

I appreciate the one who made the effort to selflessly implore good news as his time waned, and I appreciate the man who showed me these actions in real time through his life, and in his dying days.

I am stronger because of the one who taught me to heed the words, and walk the walk of the One who courageously faced his fears and embraced his friends with unconditional love until the very end knowing the best was yet to be.

“When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.” ~ Tecumseh

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