Finishing Well through Grace

I have just finished reading a book written by Dr. David Jeremiah titled, "Captured by Grace." It is subtitled, "No One is Beyond the Reach of a Loving God." Dr. Jeremiah uses the lives of the Apostle Paul, the slaver-turned-reformer John Newton, and Newton's famous hymn, "Amazing Grace," to teach us the great principles of grace. It was truly a fascinating book and one that I would highly recommend.

Just after having read the final chapter in the book and heard once again the story of how both Paul and John Newton spent their final years, I came across a verse in Hebrews 11 that overwhelmed my soul. It is verse 13 which states, All these people were still living by faith when they died. These people ended life well. Oh the final script might not have been what they desired. I am sure that Paul did not envision dying at the hands of an executioner. Nor would John Newton have thought of being blind and of having his beloved wife precede him in death. Not one of us knows how the final chapter in our lives will be written. That chapter might end suddenly - I am thinking of those who went to work, or boarded a plane seven years ago not knowing that the chapters of their lives would end that day - but they did. Or that chapter might come through tortuous pain and difficulty as disease wrecks its worst upon us. We have absolutely no control of the closing lines in the book which is our life story.

But, what God gripped my heart with was that truth - "these people were still living by faith when they died." Do you know what John Newton's last recorded words were? "I am satisfied with the Lord's will." Do you remember what the Apostle Paul said to Timothy, knowing that his death was imminent? I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Both the Apostle Paul and John Newton were still living by faith when they died. Both men had so been gripped by God's grace that, even in the face of death, they clung to that grace to see them through.

This got me to thinking. I have no control over the manner in which God will take me home someday. But I do have control over the attitude that I have as that journey is completed. I like to think that John Newton entered glory humming those words he had written many years before. Why not sing them as your testimony to God right now?

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed!

Thro' many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come;
'Tis grace hath bro't me safe thus far And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.

When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we first begun.