I met Ernie one day at an art show where we each had displays of our artwork. During the next eight years, I met him occasionally and we talked about many things. Sometimes I talked to him about the Lord Jesus, my beloved Saviour. But when I spoke about the Lord Jesus, Ernie was not the least bit interested.
Then one day I heard that Ernie was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. That’s a slow, hard way to die, but it has one big advantage - lying in bed for long days, it gives you lots of time to think about where you are going to spend eternity.
When I heard Ernie was so ill, because of our shared interest in art, I carved him a feather out of wood. On the smooth back of the feather, I carefully printed those wonderful words from Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9): “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
When I went into his hospital room, Ernie was barely able to whisper, “Hi, Jon,” because his lungs were so filled with fluid. In another hoarse whisper he said with terror in his voice, “I’m dying! I’m dying!” Then, try as he would, he could not say another word.
“I know it, I know it, Ernie,” I said. “That’s why I came.” And I gave him the feather. When he read those wonderful words from the Bible, his eyes filled with terror! He could not speak, but he looked at me pleadingly and pointed over and over to the verse.
After a while I realized that the reason he was so afraid was because he was no longer able to talk - to confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus - and that’s what the verse told him he should do. So I said, “Ernie, God is so kind and so eager to save lost, repentant sinners that if you just hold that feather up, He will know exactly what you mean, even if you can’t say it!”
Ernie grabbed that feather and held it up toward heaven, as high as he could reach. The look of fear that had covered his face was gone, and there was a smile in its place. He clutched the feather to his chest. He was at peace. He had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved, just as the verse promises.
I know that one day I’ll meet Ernie in heaven. But will I meet you there?
ML-11/12/2006