LORD, REMEMBER ME

I have heard Billy Graham speak on the radio and television, and read of his ministry most my my life. The "Gospel" he spoke was so basic, simple, and sincere that it seemed impossible to be confused on what he spoke about. I think of all the Presidents that Graham ministered to, President Johnson had to be one of the greatest challenges. Once President Johnson asked Graham to preside at his funeral, without notes, just from the heart. He wanted Graham to "preach the Gospel."

What came next has never left me after I read about it. When Graham got home he wrote a letter to President Johnson expressing his love and assurance about the afterlife for him. "We are not saved because of our own accomplishments," Graham wrote. "I am not going to Heaven because I have preached to great crowds or read the Bible many times, I'm going to Heaven just like the thief on the cross who said in the last moment, 'Lord, remember me.'"


In a Time interview with Billy Graham, he once again broke it down,

"I think we all need forgiveness. I look at my own life and my own heart, and someday I will stand before God, totally naked. I won’t be preacher, or whatever I’ve been. It'll be just before God, and I’ll need forgiveness. I’ll need the mercy of God and the grace of God."

Its very easy to get so busy with all the activities and responsibilities of life that we often forget that it was God who brought us into this world, and it will be He who accepts us into the next. With all our frailties, all our mistakes, and all our imperfections. Try ,as hard as we may, to accomplish great things, yet we just aren't perfect. We need God's grace.

It reminds me of a typical Amor home that has been build by volunteers with little or no skilled labor. The house isn't perfect when its done- the slab has crack a little as it dries, the wall's may not be perfectly straight, the door may not fit just right. Yet, when the home is done it is received with great joy and appreciation by a very needy family . The slight imperfections and the irregularities are simply forgiven and overlooked. Its the thought that counted, its the love and the "heart" that the family who receives the home recalls. We know that we tried our best and in spite of it all we still need the grace of this family.........and we will always "need the mercy of God and the grace of God!"