I was sitting home one day thinking how I could have better served the Lord, forgetting what is behind and always moving forward, when the Lord said this to me.  “You have preached me in the Catholic church, you have preached me in the Protestant church, you have preached me in prison, in the nursing home, in the Mission, and on the street, you have been a good and faithful servant.”  That was a beautiful word of comfort.  Like St. Paul we should all be able to receive from God a revelation telling us in no uncertain terms that we have fought a good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith.  That should be the legacy of every Christian entering into the twilight.  The twilight does not have to be old age, it is more a question of what God's will and purpose was for your life and when it is accomplished.

 
            On the other hand there will be weepers on the long line to hell lamenting over their poor decisions.  People who ignored, dismissed, or abandoned the word for the pleasures of sin for a season.  People who went to church all their lives and never took the word seriously and never responded to the call.  People who dismissed their own particular fleshly temptations and never worked out their salvation. Their will also be the gnashers, those who are angry and infuriated, because they thought they were more righteous than the word of God.  People who thought that their works earned them the right to heaven.  People who thought that Jesus was not the only true vine but that many paths brought you to the Father.  People who preferred popularity over persecution wanting rather to be liked by everybody than being separated unto the gospel.

            Which will be your legacy?  Will you spend eternity with God rejoicing in your victory with Christ or will you spend eternity in hell either weeping over your poor lack of judgment or snarling at the verdict of God, angered by his poor estimation of your worth?  Don't wait until a verdict is rendered in your behalf.  Begin to live the gospel now.  Fight a good fight.  Establish a course.  Keep the faith.  If you start now, then in the twilight, God will reveal to you how you have succeeded in bearing fruit for the kingdom and are a good and faithful servant.  If you choose not to obey God but rather wish to live independently of him you will perish.  What memories will you have when you die and where will you be thinking them?  That is the question.

amen