One Heartbeat Away

For those of you who know, a few weeks ago my best friend from my high school years passed away. It was sudden. He died of a heart attack at only 35 years old. After this happened to Rodney I knew it was time to get myself checked out. I mean, let’s face it. I’m no “spring chicken” anymore at the ripe old age of 36. Man! How time goes by fast. It seems like I remember just a few weeks ago playing with a plastic golf club in my grandparents front yard using their small ditch as a “hole in one”.

So this past week I went in to see my doctor to get a checkup on my heart and some blood work to make sure all is well. After some initial testing and hearing of my family history the doctor wanted me to come back the next day for an echocardiogram to make sure everything is above board. That night I did not sleep well at all. Even though I know everything is in the hands of a Sovereign God, I didn’t want to be sick. Who would, right? So, I skipped breakfast as directed and went in the next morning for the test. I walked into the testing room and was asked to lie back on the small bed next to the ultrasound machine. So they “gelled” me up and put the hand device onto my skin. Within seconds I was able to see an ultrasound picture of my heart on the screen. “That is amazing” I said to the doctor. I was able to see all the chambers of my heart, the valves opening and shutting, both red and blue colors representing oxygen filled blood, and the motion of my heart as it was beating! All I could think of was “How can anyone believe this happened by random chance? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The technician spent the next 10 minutes or so looking at my heart from all types of angles and taking measurements to pass on to the doctor. He told me that he would not be able to discuss anything if something was wrong but told me from what he could see that everything looked “A-Ok”. But what if it wasn’t? How would I handle that type of sickness? What about you? Could you handle such a thing?

As a stared at the monitor watching my heart beating I realized that I was surely just one heartbeat away from death. If this mass of tissue inside of my chest gave out I was going to die. There is no way around that. My body is contingent and dependent of the fact that it needs blood circulated and so is yours. So the question we should all be asking is – What happens when our heart finally gives out? If you would like to find out I have a small gift for you.

Here is a picture of a book written by Mark Cahill. If you would like a free copy of this book please just email me or post a comment with your information and I would be glad to send it to you completely free of charge. This is one of my most favorite books of all time and I don’t have a lot of them.

All of us one day will step out into eternity. What is going to be waiting for you? Fear or Certainty? Reward or Punishment? A loving Savior or a Righteous Judge?