Heroes Never Die!
My Grandpa and spiritual mentor passed away a couple of hours ago(as I write this). My eyes are dried up, but occasionally they well up and spill a little more. I have been going through one of his old Bibles that I am privileged to have. I know it is weird, but I am actually looking forward to his funeral. I am thinking about what I am going to say should I have the opportunity to speak. As I looked through his Bible searching to understand his thoughts, I realized I already know his thoughts. His last words went something like this, “I am in a lot of pain right now, but it is nothing compared to what Jesus did for me.”
As I looked through his Bible I started to think about a certain verse. I then wondered if he had underlined this verse. As I flipped the pages I started to hope that he had underlined. When I finally arrived to the page the verse was on I realized it wasn’t underlined. For a moment I was bummed, but then I realized this verse wasn’t for him it was for me. I have decided to rename it “The Heroes Verse”. Let me explain.
Heroes never die, they live on. Of course they live on in heaven, in the presence of Jesus. They live on in another way as well. Second Timothy 2:1-2 says, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” My grandpa is gone, but his legacy and the message of Jesus live on because of my grandpa and people like him. He certainly did find strength in the grace that is in Jesus and encouraged others to do the same. What’s more is that he passed the message of Jesus on to faithful men (I hope that I am included in those who are faithful) who are passionate about spreading this message to others.
Some heroes save lives in times of crisis like those on 9-11 who risked their life to save others, some heroes are down in Haiti right now saving lives, still others give a kidney to save a friend. These are all heroes and they deserve the respect of us all. My grandpa was a different kind of hero. He saved people’s eternal lives.
His kind of hero never dies because it lives on through people like me. His influence in my life and many other lives will never die. I hope that when my time comes forty or fifty years from now I will be a hero. I don’t know if I will ever save some one’s life physically, but maybe I will be able to spread the message of Jesus and entrust it to faithful people who will do the same. Second Timothy 2:1-2, the hero’s verse is my new life verse.
Comments
John:
This is absolutely a great tribute to my dad, your grandpa… Thanks so much, I will print it and show grandma when she wakes from much needed sleep.
Love you so much
Auntie Cheri
Yes John right up to the end of his life here on earth he was still affecting peoples souls, the nurse that was attending to him after watching Gpa’s grace and love of Christ said” I want to go to the church he goes to”, we pray that this is the first step to her salvation, what a legacy!
John, this is a wonderful piece that you wrote and I agree with you on everything. I never thought of it this way on “saving someones’ life” but I know there are tons of people out there that had their eternal lives saved by uncle Bob…
Yes, John this is a wonderful tribute to your Grandpa – He was a very special man and I feel privileged to have known him. You are following in his footsteps and I know he was so proud of you!
Love, Connie
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