“Last Words”

 

BIBLE READING: 1Kings 1-2

                I can vividly remember the day before my father passed away.  My father had suffered for years with a great deal of health issues that ranged from diabetes to heart failure.  In the last few years of his life he was granted some extra time on this earth when he received a heart transplant.  Those last few years are some of the most special to me.  What may be the most special was January 22, 2005.  I had just completed my first building project, a headboard for my daughter.  It wasn’t much to look at and it weighed about 100 lbs., but none the less, I was very proud of my work.  Of course, I wanted to show it to my father, so I loaded it up in the back of the truck and took it to his home.  As he came outside through the back door, I can still seem the gleam in his eye as the sun reflected off his glasses.  “Son, that is nice.  You sure did a good job…Emma will be proud of that…”.  I know the headboard wasn’t anything special, but it meant a lot for me to have the approval of my father.  As I loaded it back up in the truck and spent what would be the last moments I had with my father,  I heard him say what he said every time we parted ways “I love ya doll!”  Today I still get emotional when I type those words.  It is as if I can hear him whispering them in my ears once again.  Those last words mean everything to me.  That is why when I read David’s last words to his son Solomon in I Kings 2, I pay close attention to what is being said.  David wants to impart the most important information he knows to Solomon, follow God!  You know I often wonder what will be the last words that I say to my children.  Will I get the opportunity to think them through?  Should I take note now so I will know what to say then?  No, in fact, I probably won’t even know when my last words will be my last words.  Therefore, I need to make sure that I choose all my words carefully now, so they will always know to “follow God” and “I love ya doll”.