Spurgeon said, “I believe that health is one of the greatest blessings...with the exception of sickness.” It wasn’t until the flu dehydrated me so badly that my wife had to take me to the emergency room that I began to appreciate Spurgeon’s words.

Apart from sickness being an instrument of God’s loving method of reminding us of our utter dependence on Him (yes, we are on constant life support), sickness brings you into places you can’t just walk into every day...like the emergency room.

It was 1 a.m. and my head was pounding so hard death sounded sweet. I was dehydrated to the point of shaking and splitting headaches so intense that I kept dry heaving like a man getting rid of his guts.

In fear of death becoming a little to desirable to me, my sweet love Kimberly drove me to the emergency room. When you’re that sick, you really don’t care what people think of you, and I found it quite easy to share the gospel freely. As Randy the nurse stuck a needle in my arm I asked, "Have you ever seen someone die?"

"Yep,” said Randy.

"What is it like?"

"Every time it's different."

"Does it make you wonder where you'll go when you die?"

"It does."

"Where do you think you'll go?"

"I hope it will be a better place," he replied.

I said, "Well, one thing is for sure, it will be either a whole lot better or a whole lot worse." He laughed and then I took him through several of the Ten Commandments. He said, "Because God is forgiving, sin doesn't really matter anyway." I told him why it does matter and explained Jesus' words in Matthew 5:48, "You shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect", thus, our only hope is grace and forgiveness.

Before he left I encouraged Randy to consider if he’s really ready to stand before a perfectly holy God. Even through the flu God blesses us!