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The Day And The Hour

Guy K. Henry

www.GuyHenry.com

Jim had delivered the news thousands of times in his life. This was the first time that he couldn’t stop his hand from shaking. He waited anxiously for the signal to start reading the news at the television camera. As he did, his mind poured over what had happened in the last few hours.

Jim had awoken earlier that usual that morning. From the very beginning he had an eerie feeling that something was about to happen.

At the breakfast table Jim interrupted the business of getting ready for the day with an announcement. “Don’t ask me why,” he said, “but I want us to all stay home tonight.”

“But Dad!” his daughter Ashley complained, “We have church tonight.” Ashley never had to be forced to go to her church youth group.

His son Devin joined in, “Yeah! I don’t want to miss my class either.”

Jim snapped, “I’m tired of my family choosing that stupid church over me.”

His wife, Martha, started to speak, but Jim continued, “Nothing but a bunch of hypocrites!”

Martha gave up the idea of arguing and said, “Let’s hurry up kids or you’ll get to school late.”

Jim sat alone at the table and grumbled at his toast. “Why did I let myself get dragged into another fight about church?” He knew that the faith of his wife and children had made a great improvement in their family. “I know,” he thought, “I’ll shock them and go with them to church tonight.”

He got up from the table just in time to hear the garage door open. He shot up from the table and across the kitchen to catch them. He opened the front door and saw the family van slowly making its way down the driveway. “Wait Martha!” he shouted and waved his hands.

The van continued down the driveway. Jim ran to the middle of the yard still flapping his arms. “Stop!” he shouted. He wished he were in a little better physical shape.

Down at the road a large garbage truck rolled around the curve. Jim was relieved, as he’d have enough time to catch up with the van while Martha let it go by. He was anxious to tell them that he was going to church with them tonight.

The family van did not slow down. Jim’s face changed from happy anticipation to one of fear. “Stop!” he shouted again, only this time he was more urgent.

The van rolled into the street and came to a stop when it hit the curb on the other side. Jim could only watch as the garbage truck tried to avoid hitting the van. The truck hit the van hard. Amid the sounds of crunching metal and breaking glass Jim added his cries, “No! No!”

Jim ran to the crumpled van. His heart beat hard as he approached the metal mass. He hoped for good news. He peered into the broken windshield and thought he was prepared for the worst. He wasn’t prepared for what he was now looking at.

Piled against the side window, which now faced the road were two open book bags. Their books were strewn all over. The contents of Martha’s purse were scattered over the road. He lifted his hand off the gravel of the road and realized that he’d crushed Ashley’s watch.

This scene had all the marks of devastation, except one. There was no blood. There were no bodies. Jim’s mind raced to find an explanation, but none came to him.

A glimmer of hope came to him. Perhaps his family was waiting for him at the garage. He ran up the driveway like he was in high school. When he got there he shouted “Martha! Devin! Ashley!” Only silence answered him.

He ran into the house and searched each room. There was still no sign of his family. He returned to the kitchen and clutched the phone in his hand. Even as he dialed 9-1-1 he wasn’t sure what he was going to say. Did he need an ambulance? Was he reporting missing people? He didn’t have to answer those questions as the phone made the repeated beeping which signaled that the line was busy.

“It can’t be busy!” Jim shouted with frustration, “It’s 9-1-1.” He redialed the number three times. Each time he shook his head in disbelief, as the only answer was a busy signal.

Jim didn’t know what to do next. He walked into the yard. A small group of people stood around the wreck. When the garbage truck’s driver saw Jim, all he could say was, “No Bodies!”

Jim was starting to be overwhelmed by his helplessness. He searched for something he could do to find his family. He found few ideas. Without knowing why, he ran to the garage and got into his own car.

As he turned the key he decided that he’d drive to the police station and demand to be helped. With this renewed purpose he sped down the driveway and spun his car around.

Jim wasn’t paying attention as he raced down the curved neighborhood street. He slammed his breaks and stopped just in time to keep from hitting a little car in the road. Jim started to roll down his window and shout some nastiness at the driver who was slowing him down. Before he could say anything, he heard a familiar cry that pierced his heart. “Someone has stolen my baby!” the woman wailed. “She was in her car seat one moment. When I turned my head, she was gone!”

Normally Jim would have stopped and helped this woman. He didn’t today because his heart was already filled with grief. He slowly drove his car around the sobbing mother.

Jim’s thoughts returned to his missing family, and how he was going to get help for them. As he traveled through the town he noticed an unusual number of accidents and people wandering around in a daze.

Jim slowed down as he drove past the police station. In front of it was a mob of people yelling, “Help us!” They banged on the doors, which had been chained shut.

Jim sped off, unsure where he would go for help. Suddenly his pager came to life. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the message. “WE NEED YOU AT THE TV STATION, ASAP” He hadn’t thought of going there, but in the absence of police help, perhaps he’d find some answers there.

He passed the church that his wife and children had planned to go to that night. Just thinking that his family wouldn’t be at church ever again brought new tears to his eyes.

Soon Jim arrived at the TV station. As he parked his car his friend, Ernie, burst through the door. He pulled at the handle the car door and Jim asked, “What is going on?”

“We don’t know,” Ernie huffed, “But it’s big, very big!”

They scuffled through the door and Ernie continued, “All we know is that there are hundreds of seemingly random accidents and strange events.”

Together they entered the newsroom. Here Jim had delivered the news for fifteen years. He had never been so involved in a story, yet he couldn’t get his mind around all that had happened.

As Jim took his place at the news desk, he noticed that there were many missing faces. “Where is everyone?” he asked.

“This is everyone,” Ernie answered. “Everyone that we could find.”

“We’ve got three minutes until we break into the regular program.” Ernie warned.

Jim looked into the teleprompter. It was dark. In a panic he said, “What do you want me to say?!”

Ernie handed him a thick stack of papers. “Just do your best to summarize these.”

Jim thumbed through the papers. Each page told a story of an accident or a missing person. He tried to find a thread that tied all these bizarre events together, but he could not. Many of the stories reminded him of his own family. He hoped that they had returned home by now, but in his heart he knew that they never would.

The camera was aimed at the floor when Ernie signaled to Jim that they were ‘on the air’. Slowly the inexperienced cameraman raised it up to his face. Jim began to speak.

“We come to you today,” Jim said in his television voice, “with countless reports of accidents and strange stories. We don’t yet know how they are connected.”

Jim took a deep breath. “The route 110 bypass is closed due to a multi-car accident. The city airport is shut down.”

He paused and took off his glasses. He laid the stack of papers on the desk and gazed into the camera. A small tear appeared in his eye. “My family is gone,” he sniffed, “and I think that I know why.”

Jim breathed deeply to keep from breaking down. “They tried to warn me for years, but I refused to listen.” He wiped his eye. “You see, today, their Jesus came back to this earth for them.”

His voice started to shake. “They are home with Him now.”

He cleared his throat, “and here is the terrible part. If you can hear my voice then you have missed your chance. It is too late.”

This story is based on a real life story. It is not fiction. The important thing is that it is based on something that will happen in the future. It is entirely possible that someone will pick this story up one day and move it to the history section of their library.

The scriptures tell us in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52)  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” The fact that Jesus is coming back to take His church to heaven is a fact that can be banked on.

It is foolish to think that we have all kinds of time to get ready. It says in 2 Peter 3:10, ”But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

Those who proclaim to know when Jesus is going to return need to check Matthew 24:35-36 ,” Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (36)  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” The main thing to know is that He can come back at any time.

Please don’t wait! 2 Corinthians 6:2 tells us, “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Did you get that NOW part? Why wouldn’t you surrender to Jesus NOW? Believe that His death on the cross is enough to pay for your crimes against God. Do it now! Ask Jesus for that forgiveness so that you can stand clean before God and so that you can be in Heaven with Him. Why not ask Him NOW?!

The day that Jesus will come back is often called the rapture. We should live our lives as if it could occur in the very next second. But, that is not the only thing that makes our surrender to Jesus so urgent. Our lives are so frail. We can leave these bodies in an instant, often with no warning. Are you prepared to stand before God as you are with unforgiven sin? Or, won’t you lay that sin at the cross and ask Jesus to take it away?

Even if we live long lives, there is another danger. It seems that there are periods in our lives that we are very receptive to laying down our efforts at dealing with sin and allowing Jesus to take over. If we resist His offer at that time, often our hearts grow cold to the message of forgiveness. It’s our nature to ‘do it ourselves.’ Jesus’ offer of salvation offends that desire. Given time we can be hardened to the only way to heaven, accepting Jesus’ death as payment for our own sins. It is so easy to miss that chance. Why would anyone wait?

You don’t have to live through Jim’s story. You don’t have to weep bitter tears over missing the chance to spend forever with God. Reach out in faith to Jesus right now, and ask Him to forgive you.

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