Sunday, January 24, 2010

A Great Man

What makes a man great? I have been pondering this for several weeks now. I don't think being elected to an office, no matter how high the office, makes you a great man. I don't even think being king of a country makes a man great. What makes a man great is his character. A man that I know is preparing to meet his Lord and Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is a great man.
His name is Charlie, and I have known him all of my life. My first memory of him is in church. He and his family have always been in the periphery of my life, in the last 20+ years much closer. If you met him on the street and spoke to him for longer than a minute you knew of his relationship with God. He has never been embarrassed to share that relationship. He was a builder in his days before retirement. If Charlie built a house for you, you always got more than what was promised. If he was your landlord, as he was at one time for my parents, he was the best.

He never failed to stand during a testimony service and thank the Lord for his goodness, with tears. He has been married to one woman his whole life and she is the light of his life. Together they raised six children in the house of the Lord and was an example of love and faith to them. Among them are a nurse, a missionary, a teacher, a pastor's wife, a doctor and an attorney. What a legacy.

Charlie has always been there with a smile on his face and a love in his heart. I always knew if I needed something, anything, Charlie would be there, even though it was never spoken. There are some people you just know you can count on. So as Charlie prepares to meet the Lord, he is doing so with a smile on his face and a love in his heart. I just know when he gets to heaven there will be throngs of people waiting to say to him: Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am a life that was saved.