Preparing For Heaven

December 22, 2015, was one of the busiest days in our family business. We manufacture and sell granite cemetery markers and monuments. Around 2:00 pm, an elderly woman came to our office reception area, and I immediately sensed an urgency in her countenance.

Her name was Janice, and she told me she had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She had been advised to begin thinking of preparations for her funeral. I asked Janice on a scale of one to ten how sure she was that she would be going to heaven. She told me seven. I then asked her if she would like to be at a ten, and she responded yes without hesitation.

Janice admitted there were areas in her life that needed “cleaning up,” and while she talked about doing better, her actions never followed suit. She indicated she had heard the Gospel message at a revival meeting twenty years prior, but she remained unsure of her salvation. I took her through a few verses in a New Testament and explained how Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

I continue to stand amazed at witnessing opportunities God places right in front of us. These open doors do not usually occur at convenient times. They come in the hustle and bustle of life and can easily be missed because we are so busy. In retrospect, there was nothing at work that day as important as sharing Jesus with Janice.

Before she left, Janice signed and dated the back of her New Testament. On a scale of one to ten of her certainty about going to heaven, Janice said she was now at a ten.

Our God reigns, and this meeting was all for His glory.

Grady Phillips, Fairfield County Camp, South Carolina