Nearing Home by Billy Graham (best book club books for discussion txt) 📗

The Bible says that great blessing comes when we see our children’s children (Psalm 128:6). Do we fully comprehend the blessings that come from the hand of God? May we take advantage of the opportunities to influence our families for Christ.

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A FOUNDATION THAT LASTS

Each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

—1 CORINTHIANS 3:10–11

God buries His workmen but carries on His work.

—CHARLES WESLEY

Young people never see themselves as growing old. They are caught up in the age of youthfulness, bursting with excitement that energizes their hopes and dreams. I can recall those days. In the late thirties, I was a nineteen-year-old student at Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College) located on the outskirts of Tampa. I, along with some other students, met an aged evangelist by the name of Judson W. Van DeVenter. He had ministered with J. Wilbur Chapman (who had traveled and preached with D. L. Moody and later became a mentor to Billy Sunday). Mr. Van DeVenter taught hymnology at the school and wrote many notable songs such as “I Surrender All” and “Saved Through Jesus’ Blood.”

Mr. Van DeVenter had some orange groves in the Sunshine State, and when he could no longer work, the young fellows at the school went to pick the fruit before the frost fell. We found ourselves looking after the elderly preacher. I remember how appreciative he was when the younger guys would lend a helping hand. He benefitted from our labor, and while we never imagined being that old and may not have understood at the time, we drew from his example. Such encounters contribute to life’s foundation.

J. W. Van DeVenter died in Temple Terrace, Florida, in 1939 at age eighty-four. As an energetic Bible student, I could not imagine living that long and needing the level of care that he required. It seemed he could do little for himself. Now that I am ninety-two, my gratitude for Mr. Van DeVenter is deeper. Respect for others grows as we ourselves become dependent upon others. Looking back on providing for Mr. Van DeVenter gives me a greater appreciation for those who so lovingly care for me today. I can only hope in my senior state that I am building bridges for those following behind me as I encourage them on the roads they travel.

For those of us nearing home, our steps may indeed be slow, but they need not be without purpose. Younger generations follow us on our last mile of the way. What does that tell us? We are still leading. But are we leading victoriously? Are we paving the way for those who follow in our footsteps? Perhaps we should even ask ourselves, “Are our footsteps worth following?” The answer is yes if we are following the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ and our bridges are built on the solid rock of His foundation. He alone lifts our cares and lightens our burdens.

SHIFTING FOUNDATION OR SURE FOUNDATION

No one escapes life without difficulties. Some experience bad health even in their youth. Some born into wealth lose everything. Some seek love and find only rejection time and again. Without a firm foundation, life’s load is harder to bear. God has a purpose for each of us, and He desires that we build upon Him, the very foundation He has put in place. Scripture speaks of craftsmen fastening the work of their hands with pegs “that it might not totter” (Isaiah 41:7 NKJV). When Christ’s hands were pierced by spikes and fastened to the cross, He became our secure foundation. D. L. Moody once said, “Give your life to Christ: He can do more with it than you can.”

Recently I heard about a family who built a house several years ago in the Appalachian Mountains not far from our home. The site was on a hillside with a beautiful view overlooking the nearby valley and facing a range of mountains in the distance. After they drew their plans and chose their builder, the project proceeded on schedule, and some months later their new house was completed. They were delighted with the result and soon were settled into the home of their dreams.

But after a year or so, their dream turned into a nightmare. The first hint of trouble was a slight depression in the soil around a certain section of the foundation; then as time went on, the depression deepened and cracks began to appear in the walls of the house. They became alarmed and called in a structural engineer to investigate. He discovered that part of the concrete for the foundation had been poured over a pit filled with debris—old tree stumps, loose rocks, even wood left over from their construction project. As this wood decayed, the ground gave way, and the walls began to shift, making the whole house dangerously unstable. Whether by ignorance or neglect, the contractor had built their house on a defective foundation, and his error proved both costly and time-consuming to correct.

Just as this house needed a solid foundation, so we need a solid foundation for our lives—an unchanging system of beliefs, goals, and moral values that will keep us stable and secure, even in the midst of life’s storms. No matter our age, nothing prepares us for the future like a solid moral and spiritual foundation based on God’s will for our lives.

As I was reviewing this chapter, the world learned of a 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami that devastated parts of northern Japan, causing thousands of deaths and even slightly shifting the earth’s axis. I was grieved by the suffering and loss of those who survived, and my first reaction was to pray for them and ask God to help us assist them in whatever ways we could. My son Franklin immediately went to the affected area and began working with Japanese churches to bring aid to those