Vapor

Last week was rough for many of my friends. I heard of at least 5 young people, who were either family or friends of my friends, who died within a few days time. While each person's life ended differently, two facts connect them all: 1. they were "too young to die" 2. they thought they had the rest of their lives before them.

I heard news of the first death while I was attending the wedding reception of a childhood friend. I received a text telling me that a 24 year old had died in a motorcycle wreck after attempting to miss a deer. Though I did not know this young man, his wife was an ex-coworker of mine and I have grown close to his mother over the last couple of years as we have worked in ministry together. Out of respect for her, I attended the funeral.

When I went to hug his mother, the first words she said to me were, "Lindsey, we have to reach these kids. We can't have mediocre conversations and assume we know where they are going when they die." Her words have haunted me ever since. I've prayed about those words, discussed them with other youth workers, and asked WHEN DID WE LOSE OUR URGENCY TO REACH LOST SOULS?

I can't help but feel that it has to do with the fact that we have been lulled into a false sense of security, and have in turn lulled our young people into the same trap. We speak of their futures as a guarantee and not a possibility. No one wants to talk about or think about young people dying, but they do, everyday, and many of them will spend eternity away from their Father because we didn't want to do the uncomfortable task of tell them tomorrow is not promised. As I sat at the funeral, one of the most memorable moments came as the preacher told of what the young man's future plans were for he and his wife of less than a year. He thought he had another 60 years on this planet. He had spent the day playing baseball with his friends, not knowing that just hours later, his soul would be required.

We are told in James 4:13-14,  "Come now, you that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:Whereas you know not what shall be tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away." We have NO PROMISE of tomorrow, so why are we living as if we have all the time in the world? Too many of us have remained quiet as our young people "make their own mistakes", and live the way they want, believing that eventually they will turn back to the Lord. But what if they don't have time?

We want to think that we will all die long after we have settled down, but that won't be the case for many of us.  In the case of this young man, as his mother said,"he came over a hill, saw a deer, and in moments he met his maker." In speaking with his mother, she feels with confidence that he made it to heaven, but as I looked around the church that day to see the faces of people younger than me marred with confusion and pain and fear, I wondered how many of them are undone without Jesus. I wondered how many had sat in churches where "feel good" messages were preached. How many were told, "you're a pretty good guy, you'll surely make it to heaven." How many have been deceived and followed their itching ears to find someone to make them feel better?

This week made me think about my grandmother. She lost my uncle when he was in his mid-twenties. Although he was brought up with the bible and in church, he had rebelled and run as fast as possible from God. One night, he had a seizure, choked, and died alone. She spent the remainder of her days wondering what happened to him. She was left to contemplate. He knew about the Lord since he was a child, he had heard countless sermons, and her only solace was the notion that just maybe, in those final moments as he struggled for life that he cried out on the name of the Lord and was saved. But she didn't know. We still don't know. What we do know is that wherever he went that night is where he remains today, over 35 years later.

In honor of my grandmother and of this mother who lost her son just a week ago, I'm done dancing around the subjects of death and hell and heaven. For those reading who don't know for sure where they would go if they died tonight, I'm asking begging that you give your heart to the Lord. If you don't know how, I invite you to message me and I'd love to talk to you about how you can be sure of your destiny. If you are minister or youth minister I'm asking you to take this challenge to heart. As difficult as it is, take a moment and envision the young people you have influence with. Now imagine you get a call that they have died. Could you go to the funeral, look their parents in the eye and say that you did everything you could to ensure that they didn't have to question where their child ended up?

If you can't say that you have done your all to be truthful with them about the consequences of sin, it's time to re-evaluate your methods.