A Dying Man’s Wish – “Investigate the Faith”

Conceive for a moment being diagnosed with cancer... perhaps you’re in your early forties, fifties or sixties--perhaps you’re even younger. You find out it’s an aggressive metastasizing malignant growth and the cancer has spread well beyond the reach of current medical science’s ability to resolve.

Many people are faced with this sort of devastation, including many women (at this sort of age) with breast cancer. It tears away at the heart of the family affected. If treatment is an option, even to alleviate the pain, we seriously consider it, and we communicate broadly with family. Everyone pulls together; there’s strength in numbers.

Recently I scared myself to think of the possibility that I might have cancer. I considered it daily for a week or more. It made me search myself and ask if I felt I was personally ‘ready’ to die. I thought about what I might want to say to my family, my children--my parting messages if you like.

I couldn’t help think that I’d perhaps title my final epitaph in the imperative ‘Investigate the Faith.’ And the issue is not just simply salvation; a life saved for eternity.

For me, it’s mostly about living life well and right in this life. We might think we’re good and have the right intentions. But without faith we can’t come close. We don’t know how far from the right life we are. Until we can think like God more consistently throughout our days we’re a long way from living ‘well and right.’ The nature of true salvation is we only experience this perspective after we’ve come into right fellowship with God.

I recall a recovery program I used to be part of. These people would often say, ‘Give your all to this program [of faith] for three months...’ in reality, no one who gave it their all ever regretted it; nobody went back to the way they were. How could they?

When we earnestly seek a life of faith, by sincerely investigating it, we’d never return to that hell-of-a-life as it was. Somehow just knowing something of the preciousness of life, others and an Almighty Sovereign God transforms our perspective totally. All of sudden life starts to finally make more sense.

My family, while I have time, my prayer is that you--each of you--truly, devotedly and passionately investigate the faith of grace, truth and light--that of the Triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit--the faith that transforms plain existence into life, and life beyond... and continue to do so throughout each day of your life.

Let God make the difference in your life that only he can.

Copyright © 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved.