A number of people close to me are seriously ill and some have recently passed. These reminders of our mortality have brought to mind a funeral I attended several years ago of a true Christian gentleman.  

The gentleman's name was John Dannelley. I had only talked to him on two occasions. The last time he was undergoing a breathing treatment, but he immediately took off his oxygen mask when he saw me come in, in order that we could visit. This might not seem all that impressive to you, but after visiting a number of people in similar situations, it made an impression on me. You see, John was beginning hospice treatment that day, and he knew that he didn't have much time left. But he took off his mask so that he could make a stranger feel at home.

What I really want to tell you about was his funeral - he had meticulously planned every part of it. He selected the men who would speak and the songs that would be sung. He did so, not because he was a controlling person, but because he had a message that he wanted to be given to his loved ones. In each verse of Scripture read and each word of the songs he selected, it was clear that he was trying to encourage his loved ones to be faithful. He did not want them to miss out on the inheritance of God.

That's impressive! In his last touch with those he loved, he wanted to commend them to God and to God's word of grace, so that they could be built up in such a way as to be in Heaven someday. This is not speculation, by the way. Those who were present in John's Bible school classes during the past 50 years said that he closed each of those classes with the sentiment above. It was a quote from the Apostle Paul. Paul was talking to those he loved at the church in Ephesus for the last time and he commended them to God and His word of grace so that THEY WOULD NOT BE LOST.

This was the sentiment that was on Paul's heart the last time he spoke to those he loved, and it was surely on the heart of John Dannelley as he reached out at his own funeral to those he loved the most. During his final days in that hospital bed, he did not lie there pitying himself, rather, he thought of how he could encourage his family and friends one last time to take their responsibility to God seriously so that they would not be lost. The message was primarily for those who were so very close to John in this life, but it made a deep impression on me.

How about you? Are you taking God's word of grace seriously... or for granted. Are you sanctified and awaiting His inheritance, or are you just floating along through life? We can do whatever we want, but we were called to something better. Now, if I might be so bold as to borrow from the words of two great men, I commend you to God!

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Acts 20:32, KJV