Thoughts for another day

Nov. 30, 2007

Today's verse: Lk 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

Ronnie recently passed away. When I saw the calm face in the coffin, the above Words of Jesus rang in my ears. To Ronnie too in death, these Words were as fresh as they were to the thief hanging on the right side of Jesus.

Like many youngsters Ronnie was a fun loving guy. He had friends and they had friends and all these friends met on weekends and had a gala time. The crux of the party was to raise the bar, whether in smoking a cigarette peppered with drugs or inserting a needle into your vein in the most painful manner or for that matter, doing the most innovative things with the woman you took with you for the revelry. And so life went on when suddenly one fine day Ronnie coughed and as he spat in the sink, he saw blood. This happened many times in the next few days. A visit to the doctor and a battery of tests later, Ronnie learnt that his death warrant was signed. He had contracted Tuberculosis and this was because he was HIV +ve.

Within no time Ronnie lost considerable weight and the medicines had a completely opposite effect. He noticed that people shunned him, even his family. Months later, he was just skin and bones and on a government hospital bed. He was left to die. Imagine, a guy just 24, flying high in his career, moving around with the best, wearing the best clothes, dining at the best hotels…now on a bug infested bed in a dinghy room with the hospital clothes, smelling of vomit!

Ronnie cursed the day, he began on the journey that brought him here. But there was no turning back. He suffered. But what could he do. One day a man came to visit him and spoke to him of Jesus. Jesus? Ronnie hated the name. See what Jesus had done to him. He abused the man. But this man was unfazed. He left but not before handing a Bible to Ronnie. Ronnie flung it on the table. But as evening was turning into night, Ronnie took it in his hand and even as he did God’s Grace smiled on him.

Gradually, as life seeped out of Ronnie, the Words of the Bible percolated into him. He actually envisioned Jesus reaching out to the sinners. He saw himself among them at the party Levi threw for Jesus. Each of the people there were sinners on the one side. On the other there were the Jews who would not even touch them. Then Jesus came over and Ronnie could not believe his eyes, Jesus shook hands with them and hugged them. Ronnie could feel the warmth of His touch and the love in His eyes. Ronnie wept and wept – with joy.

On that day in the morning, Ronnie told Jesus. Lord, I know you have set me free; but Lord, You have to accept me as I am, in this condition…And he sensed the Lord telling Him, I accept you as you are and today you will be with Me in Paradise. A glow descended on Ronnie’s face. Even, as he ascended into the waiting arms of the Lord.

At his funeral, hypocritical tribute was paid to him, but he hardly cared. The One who loved him and died for him, now embraced him and held him close. That’s all that mattered to him.