I had an interesting conversation with an older patient today.  He told me that I need to “enjoy life while I can, because it goes fast.”  I told him I totally understood this, and said that this is probably why grandparents are more apt to overlook the faults of their grandchildren than their parents are (to which he replied, “my grandchildren don’t have any faults!).  I told him that when I was a kid, I remember thinking that 80 years is a long time, and if I lived to be that old, I had a huge amount of time left.  It looks slightly different now that I am on final approach to the runway marked 4-0, and even more so for him, who is about twice my age.

He told me that life is short. He says he has read the Bible, but he doesn’t understand everything in it.  I didn’t bring up the topic, but I pursued it.  I told him, “Well, I have read the Bible too, and I think the most important thing to understand about it is that none of us can live up to what God expects, but that Jesus Christ died so that we could be forgiven, and we need to humble ourselves before God and ask Him to forgive us.”  I told him that the Bible agrees with him, for it says that we are but a vapor that appears for a while and then vanishes away (James 4:14). It also says we are as the grass of the field (Isaiah 40:6-7). Our time on earth is short, and we need to use it to get ready for what comes next.

The conversation ended there, but I am praying for him, that God will help this seed to grow and blossom into saving faith.

I Peter 3:15 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”