The Final Lesson From My Father, Gary Thornton.

 

     I want to tell about the final lesson my father, Gary Thornton, taught me in hopes that it may teach someone reading this also.
     Wednesday, as we stayed with my father in his final earthly hours, I had reality hit home. Many times we have a head knowledge of something. We know something obtained from study, but don't know it experientially, that is to say we have not experienced the reality of it.
     I am thankful for the last hours spent with my father. We laughed and talked and I got to see that strong man that I have known since childhood. It was priceless.
     I also experienced something that brought a lesson that had started earlier this year home. As the end approached, I saw my father wind down like a clock. I knew then that for all of us, "the wages of sin is death" .
     Death comes for all of us. Either it is stalking us silently and unseen from cover or it is hard on our heels ready to drag us down. In the midst of life, we are in death. Death is no respecter of persons and from Adam's sin onwards we are all under the curse. We are paid a currency and that currency is death.
     If that was all there was to the lesson, then we would all be in despair because there would be no hope. My father's lesson started earlier than this and add more to the story. From an early age my father ensured that we had instruction in godliness. By the age of nine, I believed and was baptised. The final lesson began though earlier this year after my father was diagnosed with cancer. It was a lesson I had already had but I learned anew through experience.
     My father was worried about my mother's future, but was not worried about his own. I never saw my father despair over his plight. The reason for this was simple, my father knew about the gift from the One who conquered Death.
     "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
     My father was assured that Jesus offered eternal life and knew his destination. He had that "Blessed Hope" and believed. Now, I knew all these things and believed but an experienced lesson brings things home far better than intellect alone. It took the last month's of my father's life to make them experienced. My father lived those last months with assurance that when he passed this mortal coil that God had granted him the gift of eternal life. My father knew that we are owed death, but that God offers something past that. Believe in His Son and you start down the path that leads to eternal life. When my father's final breath passed he was in the presence of Jesus Christ. It was a powerful experience to see my father live with that assurance this year. Before, my father saw through a mirror darkly, but now he beholds his hope face to face.
     If you don't have the assurance my father has, then you need to go see a pastor and learn how to get it. If you don't the only thing you will be owed from this life is the death we all get. Learn as I did from my father and take hold of the gift that Christ offers.