Did You Know My Son?
James Daniel Fields 1983-2003
I have written this for you the reader.
On October 16, 2003, James was feeling sick but went to work anyways as he felt it was the right thing to do. James' mom dropped him off that morning, clueless that none of us would ever see him alive again. Around noon that day James passed out and went into cardiac arrest in the break room and that was the end of his life. He was twenty years old, and had no health problems. A flu type virus, for some unknown reason, crossed over into his heart, causing heart failure and his sudden death. But you see we have confidence that we will see James again alive in Heaven.
As I stated above, I wrote this for you. You see, you and I have two things in common with James:
Have you ever told a lie, a fib or a half truth? That would make you a liar in God's eyes. (9th commandment). Have you ever looked at someone with lust in you heart? Jesus said He who looks upon a woman with lust has already commited adultery with her in his heart.(2) (7th commandment). If you have ever taken anything that does not belong to you that makes you a thief. (8th commandment). The Bible says that if you hate someone, you have committed murder in you heart.(3) (6th commandment). Using God's name carelessly or as a curse word is called blasphemy. (3rd commandment).
We have looked at only five of the ten commandments. If you are completley honest with yourself, you will have to admit that you have broken these at some time in you life. Remember, God knows our thoughts, and time does not forgive sin.
Suppose there was a man who was a bank robber and had committed murder, but he often gave to the poor and helped out at the homeless shelter. Would his good deeds outweigh his bad and keep him out of prison? Of course not. The Bible says that the guilty will not go unpunished.(4) And we are all guilty.
Hell is a fiery place of eternal torment and punishment for those who are guilty. I don't want you to go to Hell, you don't want to go to Hell and God does not want you to go to Hell either. In fact, God loves you so much that He made a way for you to be free from sin and Hell. God sent his one and only son Jesus, who lived a perfectly sinless life. Jesus was crucified. That is, he was whipped, spit upon and beaten beyond recognition and then was hung on a wooden cross by having large nails driven into his hands and feet. God allowed his own son to be brutally punished for your sins and mine. Jesus died , was buried in a tomb, and after three days, rose from the dead conquering death.
You can be pardoned for you sins and have eternal life in Heaven. Jesus said you must first repent. (5) That is to confess your sins to God, turn away and forsake all that the Bible calls sin, ask Jesus to be you Lord and Savior and place all your trust in Him by obeying his word.
Many people claim the name "Christian" but do not know Jesus as their Lord. The way to Life is to know the Son of God. Jesus said: "If you love me you will obey my teaching".(6) When you willingly repent, trust in and obey Jesus, you will be transformed, taken from darkness into light, born again, a new creature with a new heart and new desires, and you will have Life Eternal.
So when you stand before God on that great day of judgment and He asks you, "Did you know my Son?" what will your answer be? Your eternal destiny depends on it.
(1) Exodus 20:1-17. (2) Matthew 5:27. (3) 1 John 3:15. (4) Exodus 34:7. (5) Luke 13:3. (6) John 14:23
On October 15, 2003, my son James was a happy, fun-loving young man with hopes of getting married and raising a family. He loved kids, sports, and comedy, and he loved to make wise cracks and make people laugh. He simply loved life.
1. We are both going to die. (10 out of 10 people do.)
2. We will all face a Holy God on Judgment day. "He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with truth"(Psalm 96:13). Seeing how short and frail life here on earth is you have to ask youself: "Am I good enough to get into Heaven?" Lets have a look at God's Law (The Ten Commandments) (1) and see.