[I wrote this devotion in Holy Week, 2006. I’m now older than the friend I call John was when he died. Don’t wait. – Coty]

This week we remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Resurrection is sweet. Death is painful.

Personally, the reality and pain of death have hit me twice this week. Tuesday, I flipped through the alumni magazine from my undergraduate alma mater, and found to my surprise that my freshman roommate Rick had died in February at the age of 50. This morning, after an out-of-the-blue internet search, I stumbled across the information that a friend and colleague from my days as an economist – whom I’ll call John – had died last July at the age of 61.

I had only seen my freshman roommate once since graduation – at a reunion a couple of years ago. I was much closer to John. While he and I never shared a room, we worked together for over a dozen years, co-authoring several papers, presenting at conferences together, and jointly running a Masters degree program in development economics. Even after my call to the ministry, he tried to hire me as an economist. Last April a recruiter called, attempting to entice me back into economics; I’m 99.9% sure John was behind that.

I looked up to John in many ways. He was the ideal development economist, with a solid grasp both of economic theory and of the real world issues facing poor countries. A father of four, he always made time in his busy schedule to be with his children. And they thrived – one became a Rhodes Scholar. His infectious enthusiasm spurred many around him to become more than they ever thought they could be. He was ready to listen and give feedback on a wide range of topics. We had not regularly spoken to each other these last four years, but knowing now that I can’t call him, that I will never again hear his encouraging voice and hearty laugh, is painful.

For, unless something changed in his last months of life, John did not believe in Jesus. He was quite spiritual in the postmodern American sense, and considered “spirituality” to be something that we shared – but he did not recognize Jesus as His Savior, Lord, and treasure.

This man and I sharpened each other professionally; we edited each other’s words; we each made the other a better economist; we discussed how to better serve our students, how to improve our institution; we talked about fathering and marriage and, yes, spiritual issues.

But today I only ask myself: What more should I have said? How could I have better lived out and communicated to him the beauty of our Savior – the glories of the One who died on a cross on Friday and rose from the dead on Sunday, who is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and who will come again . . . who will come again, this time to judge the living and the dead?

Life is short, my friends. O, life is short! Regardless of your efforts, you yourself may have only days left. (John was an athlete as a young man and kept himself in good physical condition all his life. Yet he died of a heart attack – while exercising.) Are you confident of your status before God the Father, the King of the Universe? Throw yourself on His mercy!

Are you His? Then spread a passion for His supremacy in all things! Don’t wait! Don’t dawdle! Don’t procrastinate! Be winsome – but be bold. Be tactful – but be forthright. Choose the right moment – but know that that moment must be soon! Today is the day of salvation!

No one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

To love your neighbor as yourself surely means to respect their beliefs and to be cordial. But it surely also means to share with them the only way under heaven by which they can be saved from God’s eternal wrath. It surely means to share with them the purpose for which they were created, the joy that can be theirs for all eternity.

Resurrection is sweet. Death is painful. Your time may be short. The time for your neighbors, family, and friends may be short. Don’t live with regret. Even this weekend, speak the word of God’s grace; proclaim the Gospel to those around you.

Don’t wait.