Seize the Day: A 3-Day Marriage PlanSample

Last Call

The great day of the Lord is near—near and coming quickly.

Zephaniah 1:14

Think about the people you love. Have you thanked them recently for what they mean to you? If the Lord called you home this evening, would you feel satisfied that you had told them everything you needed to say?

In the last months of my (JCD) mother’s life, she had end‐stage Parkinson’s disease and was unable to communicate or understand us. One day, however, the Lord granted us a reprieve. When Shirley and I visited the nursing home, my mother instantly recognized us, and I was able to thank her for being a good mother, for staying true to Jesus, and for sacrificing to put me through college. She smiled; she understood. I told her that my father was waiting for her in heaven and that Jesus would say, “Well done! Thou good and faithful servant.” I prayed for her and thanked the Lord for her love in my life. She returned our love, and we said goodbye.

That was the last rational conversation I had with my mother, and I will always be thankful for those final moments together. In this temporary existence, we must always seize opportunities to communicate soul to soul. Cherish each moment with your partner, family, and friends. Tell them how important they are to you. Above all, live each day so that when the final call comes, Jesus will say, “Well done! Thou good and faithful servant.”

Just between us . . .

• Do we tell our loved ones what they mean to us?

• What would you like to say to me “soul to soul”?

• Are we ready for the Lord to call us home?

• What should we do to prepare?

Dear Lord, thank You for my lifetime partner. May we never miss an opportunity to say the words that really count. Help us to live without regrets, always ready for the homeward call of Jesus. Amen.

Excerpted from Night Light for Couples, used with permission.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God . . . (1 Pet. 1:22-23, ESV)

Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. (Rev. 22:12, ESV)