Epilogue
Epilogue
Years ago when I became paralyzed in a diving accident, my world was reduced to the basics. Lying for two years in a hospital bed on starched sheets surrounded by starched hospital workers, I lived in a sterile vacuum, doing little more than eating, breathing, and sleeping. I had all the time in the world to ask questions of God.
Perhaps friends who visited me thought I was being too philosophical. But they weren’t faced with the larger-than-life questions that were plaguing me: “What is the meaning to life?” and “Where are we all heading?” Haunted and hurting, I realized there had to be more to life than just existing.
That’s when I came face-to-face with the God of the Bible. I decided it was better to throw my questions at Him rather than shrug my shoulders and turn away. Those two years in the hospital were like one long question-and-answer session.
Heaven…Your Real Home is, in part, a result of that time of questioning. What is the meaning to life? To know and glorify God. Where are we all heading? To enjoy Him forever…at least for those who know Him.
My heart’s longing is that you know and enjoy Him forever too. And if your heart has been warmed by the things you’ve read on these pages, if you sense in them the ring of truth, then it is God who is saying to you, “Come home, come home…ye who are weary, come home.” The first step in the right direction Home begins with a prayer, honest and from the heart. If you wish to be certain that you’re homeward bound to heaven, and not hell, then feel free to borrow the following words and make them your personal prayer…
Lord Jesus, I realize I have lived my life far from You
And I see now how my sin has separated me from You.
Please come into my life—my heart, mind, and spirit—
And make me the person You want me to be.
Forgive me for living away from You all these years
And help me to turn from my old ways
To Your new and righteous ways.
I invite You to be Lord of my life
And thank You for the difference You will make.
Amen.
If this is your prayer, then the next step in the right direction is to find a church where you can share your newfound affection for the Lord Jesus with other like-hearted believers in Him who center their faith around the Bible as God’s Word. Step-by-step, you will grow to know Him better and to enjoy Him more. I look forward to the day when our journey Home will end on the other side of those gates of pearl. When you get there, let’s do heaven, and until then, let’s do all we can to help other hearts get Homeward bound.
Joni Eareckson Tada
Joni and friends
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
818–707–5664
www.joniandfriends.org