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“Someday I’ll have time for God, but not today!”

Those words, uttered by my son, caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. On a visit to Steve’s home for his 40th birthday, I had let him know my plans to attend a local church that had been praying for my health. That never happened, because Steve fell down the cellar stairs that night. That one misstep changed all of our lives forever.

Pray. Breathe. Pray. The two hour drive to the Trauma Center in Portland ME seemed endless. A life flight helicopter was transporting Steve there in a race to save his life. Subdural hematoma and traumatic brain injury were words I was to become very familiar with in the next few weeks.

A subdural hematoma is a blood clot between the skull and the brain that can occur after a head injury. Stephen’s fall and resulting bleed in his head was causing his brain to swell at an alarming rate. The doctors operated on him twice that day removing two sections of his skull to give the brain the room it needed to accommodate the swelling.

The Bible tells us that we are not promised another day.

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. James 4:14

Steve’s body was failing. His internal thermostat was making ice water blankets necessary to keep his core temperature down. His body was attached to so many machines that it was difficult not to watch them anxiously for signs of life.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27

Three times the doctors encouraged me to take Steve off life support. They told me if he survived this, he would never get out of bed. He would not know us. He would be a vegetable for the rest of his life. Family pleaded with me—he would not want to live with the dismal future they were predicting for him.

I never fully understood James 5:16b until those moments:

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

If he died without ever admitting he was a sinner and calling on Jesus to save him, he would spend eternity in hell.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

The Decision: Possible vegetative state for the remainder of his life or unquestionable eternity in hell.

The 3rd time they came to me for a decision, I told his surgeon “You don’t know my son, he’s a fighter. And frankly, you don’t know my God. If He wants him, He’ll take him!”

God didn’t take Steve and by the third week he improved enough to warrant physical therapy. He has spent years re-learning how to eat, talk, walk, and function with his injury. There are seizures, anger issues, depression and limited cognitive function. Physically, he is not the same man as he was before the fall.

The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Psalm 116:6

Spiritually, he is not the same man either. One afternoon, at our family cabin in Maine, Steve admitted he was a sinner and trusted Jesus, the Son of God, to come into his life and save his soul for eternity.

That 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

For years, Steve wouldn’t admit his sin.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

But that day he became a new creature in Christ.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Where you spend eternity is the most important decision you will ever make. If you can’t remember a specific time in your life when you chose Jesus, don’t let another moment go by without securing eternal life in Heaven.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Choices matter! Why pay for your own sin? Choose the free gift of salvation today.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3:36

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