There is an old wall clock in my office that is constantly ticking away. I had the thought today that each tick of that old clock represents time – and how it is fleeting away to eternity and so am I! I will one day pass away into dust.
With that in mind, I want to list out those who are so dear to me – and afterwards – I want to say something to all of you that represents my heart to you.
Family
Valerie – Abigail – Brock – Miriam( mom) -Carroll – Amanda – Beth – Jeremy – Tabatha and their children
Kelly Fitzsimmon – Jason and Avril – Joey Brock and their children
Dan and Marianne – Jeff and Susan – Whitney and William and their Spouses and children
Friends
David Dowling – Allan Mills – Scott and Karon Truran – Matt and Stacey – Tony and Michelle – Bruce and Becky – and their kids and grandkids – Anthony Higdon – Kenny Bentley – Stan Coates – and so many others…
Some of you are ready for eternity. Some of you are not! The question then is “What makes us ready to meet the one who formed us?” There is only ONE answer. His name is Jesus Christ.
Those who knew me best realized how much I actually hated religion – because man made approaches to God blind the eyes of the simplicity of Jesus. Religions of this world says that you must DO this or DO that or GIVE this or that. Jesus says that all we must do is to realize our need (and without this we cannot come to Him) put out our hand in humility admitting what we are – SINFUL – and receive the gift that He gave us on the cross and his resurrection from the dead – The payment for my sins. This and only this make me acceptable to God – and this and only this – makes a person ready to see the Lord. Apart from this, there is only judgement and that judgement is eternal hell.
Now – this did not originate from me! None of what I have said came from me whatsoever. It is strickly a summation of what the Bible teaches. It is simply and to the point and for some that point – is painful.
When I came to understand this, it began to grow in me in such a big way that my life changed. I stopped pursuing the ridiculous things of this world for fulfillment and found that the words of Christ are true “I have come to give you life and life more abundantly.” Abundantly – is what I would say that He has been in my life. He has Abundantly blessed me with a wonderful wife and children – and I have had the chance to see them grow into what they are today. Apart from Christ and all that He means to me – They represent my greatest blessing in this world. I thank the Lord often for them and pray that they will surpass my relationship with Christ and become a light in such a dark world.
To those who do not have this love relationship with Christ – I hope these words will cause you to stop and consider what I have said in this letter. I hope you will receive the Grace of God in Christ – and let go of everything else that you have been looking to for fulfillment and joy. They DON’T COMPARE! To have the God who created you live in you and guide you – is life more abundantly – but it starts with admitting your need as a sinner and believing that God has the power to superintend His truth (the Bible) and protect it so that it is trustworthy. Without this belief in the power of God to protect the truth (the Bible only and ALL that it teaches) you cannot be saved. How can a person believe only portions of the truth and be fully saved? It is truth – and it transforms you. Test me and see if it doesn’t transform you! But you must come with a beggars heart or as a child who accepts openly- in humility – to see its power.
Well… that is my heart and I hope you know that I will always love you.
Tim Gowens