The Day of Salvation. For my recently deceased friend—call him Slim—whom I knew since high school, I am not sure that day ever came. He was scornful and vituperative in his rejection of God and His Son, and if he persisted in this attitude, then hell, a place he didn’t believe exists, was sadly his final destination. This is a burden—and a motivation.

Slim and I were best friends for a long time, so his family asked me to speak at his funeral. I wish I had been able to reassure them that he was in a better place, but I could not. 

I loved Slim like a brother. For many years, we were practically inseparable. We played music together, went to concerts together, celebrated holidays together, did road trips together, and hung out with the cocky nonchalance of youth. He taught me things that, in retrospect, I probably had no business knowing. However, all of this was woven into the tapestry of my formative young adulthood and contributed to the development of my personality. Slim understood me and validated me, a confirmation that frankly had been lacking in my life. His brilliance, wit, and confidence inspired me, and although we eventually traveled separate paths, we remained very close, and the hopelessness of his death has devastated me.

I made it clear early in our friendship that I was a believer, and I tried to live in ways that proved my faith was real. Slim scoffed, not at me but at God. I feel conviction for not pressing more urgently his need to secure his eternal destination in heaven by embracing Jesus, and Pastor Gregg, in his compassionate wisdom, pointed out that we can only hope that he was finally persuaded to believe. 

I need that urgency, that imperative, that Pastor Gregg described as he rushed out to find his uncle in the hours after he got saved. He just had to tell him about Jesus! Don’t we all need that urgency?

For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” 
Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
-2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT


Taste and see, brothers and sisters, 
Lamar