Last Call

My husband, Kevin, is a part of our local volunteer fire department.  He has been a member since we moved out here three years ago.  In that time he has become close friends with the Chief of his department.  Ron, the fire chief, is a great guy who lives his life to help others, a busy and loved member of our tiny community.  He was in the hospital recently and noticed that the hospital was full of kids.  Most of these kids were alone; no parents were staying with them.  He was determined that when he go out of there he would go up and spend time with the kids, brightening their day, and keeping them company.  That did not happen, he died.  He received his call to heaven and went home…  He was 57 years old.

I personally did not see Ron often.  When Kevin went to his meetings and calls, I was home with the kids.  But I knew him well through Kevin.  We always intended to invite Ron and his wife out for an evening.  That keeps playing through my head.  I know it is so very selfish.  But it is something we intended to do and will never have the opportunity, we waited to long, we were busy and put it off for later.  At the funeral, I guess this is common at firefighter’s funerals; they did a ‘last call’.  When the graveside service was complete, they called the dispatch.  I was close enough to hear the man whispering into the phone, giving the dispatcher the cue.  The firefighters were lined up in rows, standing at attention, and all their pagers went off, buzzing and beeping.   They did not move.  The dispatcher’s voice, with a bit of a crack, came forth clearly from all the pagers strapped on the belts of each firefighter, and said “Last call for Ron, last call for Ron.  The community fire department would like to thank you for your 30 years of service…You will be missed.”  I really didn’t hear all of it.  Everyone was crying and sniffing, including myself, especially Ron’s family and the men and women on the department.  I did leave his last name and the town’s name out for privacy’s sake, but you get the point.

It was his 'last call', and it came so soon.  We just don’t know when our ‘last call’ will come.  We have no idea when we will be called to heaven.  We don’t know when we will stand before God to account for our lives.  We have to be ready.  We have to have our lamp lit, our sins forgiven, and our souls ready for that last call.  Don’t think you have great amounts of time left.   My cousin was 23 when his call came.  We don’t know when Jesus will return, and we don’t know when we will receive our call to heaven.  So be ready.  Don’t leave things for later.  Do God’s work now!  Don’t miss your chance.  Serve the Lord with gladness in your heart.  I know you don’t have time, I don’t either, no one does.  When you are standing before our Lord, what will be more important… that the dishes in the sink are done, or that you read the bible to your child every night.  

 We keep missing our family devotion and prayer time.  It is summer, our schedule is off – not an excuse, especially when we are staying up later and actually have MORE time.  Why would we miss the single most important event of our day!  I even have an alarm set on my phone.  Every evening at 7:47 p.m. it rings to let me know it is time for devotions, to call the kids in, to get ready for bed and come together in the living room.  That is what we do in the school year – in the summer I think, everyone’s busy, we’ll do it later… then before I know it, it is time to rush them off to bed, and we tuck them in with a ‘don’t forget your prayers’.  What a shining example I have been!  Sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm!  I have been no example at all.  Family devotions, discussion, and prayer is not something to ‘do later’.  It is something I should be doing NOW!  Am I ready for my ‘last call’, am I preparing them for their own ‘last call’?

 

What are you putting off for later?  What is not getting done that God has called you to do?  He will call and call, and then one day you will get that ‘last call’.  Your last call… your call to heaven to account for your life.  What do you want to tell God?  An accounting of what you did to serve him here on earth, or a list of excuses?  This hits hard, doesn’t it?  It does for me.  

So what do we do?

Psalm 37:5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust him and he will help you.

1 Timothy 1:7   For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self – discipline.

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Mathew 17:20 “You don’t have enough faith” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain ‘move from here to there’ and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible”

Ephesians 5:17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

Isaiah 40:31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

Luke 12:35-36 Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from a wedding feast.  Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in when he arrives and knocks.

Prayers for Ron’s wife and family, as well as the members of our small community and the leaderless men and women of the fire department, are welcome and appreciated.