At the local coffee house that I frequent, I’ve gotten to know a few of the regulars pretty well. Recently, one of them had to go through a second bout with his pancreatic cancer, the same type that killed Steve Jobs last month.
Because of the nature of this type of cancer, this man’s doctor said that they would continue to administer the chemo for as long as he could stand it. There was a good chance if they were not able to kill it off this time around, then this may be his last chance to do anything about it.
In his early 50’s and in good shape, he was ready and willing to pull out all the stops. After about eight rounds of treatments (some can only handle two) it was all that he could take. Now all that was left was to sit and wait and see what the outcome would be. He didn’t have to wait too long before the doctors gave him a clean bill of health! He had won his battle.
In the course of this ordeal, he lost about a year of his life fighting the disease, racked up bills of nearly $200,000, and lost 10-20% of the feeling in his finger tips. He considered all of these worthwhile sacrifices, especially in light of the outcome.
Now understand, he had no guarantee that he was going to make it through this adversity. But he felt if he could, then perhaps he would continue to enjoy life for much longer, even as long as his father had, which would be another 30 years.
This man endured an incredible trial in order to continue in his gift of physical life, albeit for a fleeting amount of time in the scope of things. Now think of the assurances that we have for the future. What should we be willing to go through for the gift of eternal life in the Family of God? Nothing can compare with that.
©2024 Church of the Eternal God
