Are you ready?

This afternoon I went to hospital to visit with a man dying of cancer.  He told me he knows he's dying and he's scared!

I asked him what he was afraid of and he told me he has no idea what's ahead!  He's afraid of dying.

We had a great talk. We talked about what God is like, how he can have hope, how he can know what's next.  He asked a lot of questions, had a lot of ideas about what is ahead and a lot of fears of the unknown.

We all fear death even though we all know it faces each of us.  No one will escape without death at the end.  

My question to my new friend was this, "Are you ready?"  He admitted he's not and wants to get ready, but faith is so hard for him.  His family experience made it difficult to believe in a good God.  All he knew was an angry God, vengeful, mean, ready to punish.  When I told him that's not the God of the bible it surprised him.

I think we will have several more visits.  I hope he will discover the answer to the most important question, "Are you ready?"

Are you?