Aileen Friedman

WHAT IF THAT WAS YOUR LAST FOOTSTEP?

A week after Ali passed away I held a study with the church youth. Firstly everyone had a turn to say what they remembered most about Ali – the majority spoke of his passion for God and food (haha). They also seemed to enjoy his sense of humour. Pedro remembered Ali telling him the expression “entjie my laarnie” That brought a big smile to my face.

Then I read the scripture 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 – 18

^“13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

So when all is said and done on this earth, what will your last footstep be? It can happen anytime, anywhere, anyplace. You have no control over that final footstep, you do have however, control of where you will spend your eternal life.

It is your choice! God gives us the choice to follow Him and be a faithful servant and ultimately to live forever in His Kingdom. This is your choice. Where will your footsteps take you?

The way to salvation, to have eternal life in Jesus, to have Jesus say at the end of time “welcome home good and faithful servant” you need to obey Jesus’ commands. We obey our earthly fathers so why don’t we obey our Heavenly father when he says “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:4.  Obey your father before you take your last footstep, before it’s too late.

But, we are human, we make faults, we sin, we stray from God’s righteous path. We do this daily. How do we make this right with God? By prayer, continuous prayer. Remember God knows your heart better than you. He created you. You are His son/daughter and He is such a loving and forgiving God. Therefore should you stray or sin, pray for forgiveness before you take your last footstep, before it’s too late.

Friday September, 1^st, 2017 was a normal Friday evening. Ali and I had been on a walk through our neighbourhood and shared a peaceful evening and a meal together. Our lives were so adjoined together we were joined at the hip. He stood after eating and for how long I will never know he remained standing until he took his last final footstep before collapsing to the ground – his life on earth had ended and mine was forever altered.

Ali was a lucky one, he gets to rise first when Christ returns, he has no more worries or concerns. Ali served God with passion and was His good and faithful servant.

What if that was your last footstep?

Please think upon thiis very seriously and I say this with nothing but love in my heart for you.