'What If It Had Been You?"

Hello My Friends, 

This was written by the young mom who I requested you pray for following the tragic accident on January 11 that claimed the life of her young son, Fane.  She sent this out today on her Facebook page and to all the addresses in her email address list. 

Please continue to hold them in your prayers.

Thank you,

Linda

What if it had been you?

by Haylee Hall Hershey on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 9:51am ·

Over the past four weeks I've had lots of thoughts and emotions coursing through my mind and body.  And rightfully so.  That's what happens when your 3 & 1/2 year-old son dies in a car accident.  A car accident in which he wasn't buckled in and you were driving.  So as is likely, there have been many, many, many thoughts and questions about heaven.  God is a being I've always believed in and heaven is a place I've always planned on going after this earthly life.  And that hasn't changed.  What has changed, however, is the urgency I feel to spread the gospel.  I never felt pressed to pass The Word along before.  I was always very timid about it, fearing I'd upset someone or people would think ill of me.  But the death of a close loved one (especially one that in your mind wasn't supposed to die yet) forces you to think more pressingly about eternity.  Of course we all know these tragedies can and do happen everyday.  But we never really expect it to happen to us.  And we are not called to sit by timidly and let others perish in the flames.  We are called to boldly proclaim the good news of salvation.  God wants all of us to be saved.  But He gave us free will.  That means the choice to accept or reject Him is ours.  So I ask: What if it had been you?  If you were the one who died where would you be now?  My beautiful Fane is in heaven with our Maker and Savior.  But where would you be?  Now more than ever I believe there is a heaven and hell.  And now more than ever I believe that Jesus is the way to salvation. Simply being "a good person" and leading "a decent life" is not enough.  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  I know there are many people who believe in heaven and hell and God and Satan.  But merely believing is not enough.  Even Satan fears and trembles.  The way to heaven is through Jesus.  We need to know Him and love Him and serve Him.  We need to ask Him to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  We need to invite Him into our hearts and into our lives.

I'm afraid I'm sounding preachy and that really wasn't my intent.  So I think I'll stop here.  It's just that this has all been on my heart a lot lately and I felt compelled to share it.  I know there are a lot of people who don't believe in God at all.  And that's their prerogative.  Like I said, free will...But I also know there are a lot of people who think you get to heaven by being nice.  That's simply not the case.  None of us are perfect, but we can be through the sacrificial lamb Jesus Christ.  We are nothing without Him.  So please, please, please at least consider what I've said.  And do it now.  You may not have until tomorrow to get it figured out.  What do you have to lose?  If I'm wrong...nothing.  You die and that's it.  But if I'm right...well, the stakes are much higher.  If I'm right, you have heaven to lose and salvation to gain.  If you've already been saved and have your ticket to heaven, awesome!  I'll see you there if not before.  And really, you gotta get to heaven so you can meet Jesus face to face.  He's an amazing guy, quite indescribable in fact.  And then you gotta meet my Fane...'cuz he's pretty cool too.