A Letter to My Grandson

I wanted to give you something that would outlast me

Or--more likely, because Nana and I planned for this, and we agreed it would not be right for me to just let a machine control my breathing--I will have already passed on to the new life and will not have been able to tell you this in person. So I wanted to be sure that I wrote these things down while I could think through them, before the time when I might not be able to string these thoughts together.

Your mom and dad love you very much. You are a precious gift to their family and to ours as our first grandchild and first grandson. We prayed for a long time that God would give to our family a special young man with energy and passion and wonder. And you are that one! So you are the leader of the pack; the oldest grandchild.

I looked forward to having a grandson with whom I could play games and attend his soccer and baseball games as he was growing up. If you’re reading this, it could be that I did participate in those things. But more than likely, I missed many of these opportunities, perhaps because of distance; and or possibly because I was so sick at the end. I also hoped that when you got older, we might talk about the deeper, important things of life: those spiritual things that people say we are not supposed to talk about. I hoped that with my years of serving the Lord that I could be an encouragement to you as you started to grapple with your own spiritual questions. But more than the games and the seasons I may have missed, I wanted to give you something that would outlast me.

It is so important that you make these decisions about what you believe early in life; to avoid being buffeted by different emotions: the influence of what your peers will say; and where this all fits as you reflect on your image of yourself. At some point, your friends will become more important to you than your parents. So you will want to have a solid understanding of who Jesus is, and the role of faith in your life; thought through before major doubts creep in, and the mockery of friends and co-workers starts to wear on your consciousness.

The Bible is an authentic source of inspiration and guidance

I want to encourage you to actively search out what the Bible says about any of the things you may be pondering. The Bible is an amazing book--actually a unified library of 66 books--written by over 40 human authors across 1,500 years. Open up the Bible at any point, read for 20 minutes, and you will be amazed at the grand, yet cohesive story woven there, highlighting God's redemptive plan for mankind within a narrative containing different literary styles and historical perspectives.

The Bible is incredibly unified and has much to say to our present day, our individual lives and your unique experiences. It is an authentic source of inspiration and guidance: after all, it is literally the word of God! You can trust what it says, and its truth is always proven again and again. But you must also press in and seek to know the Lord in a way similar to the woman who suffered from a constant bleeding condition (Mark 5:25-34 ESV). You must be desperate to know the truth, for the kingdom of God is a high calling and precious--so precious that people will sell all that they have to know its secrets (Matthew 13:44). God is not afraid to answer your questions and will answer all of them; but you must ask in faith without wavering (Hebrews 11:6).

There is really nothing more important than your spiritual life and making that decision for Christ. After this I would encourage you to study the great heroes of the faith as mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11. The Bible says that the world was not worthy of these people (Hebrews 11:38), meaning that these men and women endured great hardships because of their faith. It is certainly a good thing to study history and read the biographies of great men who have lived out what they believe. Understanding the character of these men will help you to endure the challenges you may face in your own Christian life. These models will also demonstrate the type of people that you should allow into your life.

Bible does not talk about perfect men, only One perfect man, whose name is Jesus

If people come into your life and want to have an influence over you, but they do not model the values of integrity, trust, faith, loyalty and perseverance, then they are probably not the kind of people you want to hang around with. I once read something that has stuck with me ever since: who we know and what we do together shapes who we become more than almost any other factor. 

The Bible is an authentic source of information about average men with no particular gifting that God gifted and used for His glory to accomplish some incredible things. The Bible does not talk about perfect men, only One perfect man, whose name is Jesus. All the other men and women mentioned in the Bible were fallible and made many mistakes. But God’s redemptive plan caused Him to use willing people to accomplish great things. The gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1) highlights at least five women who were average people who would be outcasts in any culture: one of the women posed as a temple prostitute; while another was an actual prostitute. One was a widow from an enemy tribe; while another was a wife caught up in adultery when her husband was at war. And then there was a young virgin who faced incredible social shame for being pregnant and unmarried. Yet God included all of them in the lineage of our Savior, because they trusted God over the circumstances they faced.

I pray that God brings godly mentors into your life who can model faithful Christian living before you. I hope that my own life, for as long as I lived among you and for the times I was exposed to you, was a model to you of a faithful Christian life. That would be my greatest gift to you.

I really don’t want this letter to end. I would love to keep speaking to you… but by the time you are reading this, I am no longer able to enjoy your company. I made a profession of faith when I was 20 years old, and so at the time I wrote this I would have lived over 50 years as a Christian. I wish I could say that every day was a highlight reel of me living out what I believe. This would not be true. But I can agree with the Psalmist who wrote, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25). There are times when one day is not as great as the next, but the scripture says that, “This is the day that the Lord has made; [so] let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). Each day we are given is precious, all the more so when you know that your length of days is running out.

The Bible says that, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18a). That is what I experienced in my final days, and it was an amazing experience to rely solely on God. Until you have given up everything, you will not know how deep your trust in God really is. God is in charge of every detail of your life (Psalm 37:23). When we finally give up control, it is then that we can see God working all things for His glory (Romans 8:28). At that point there is nothing to worry about--His sovereign control over all of our life will accomplish what He set out to complete in us (Philippians 1:6).

I know that eternal life is all about God revealing more and more of Himself to us (John 17:3). I imagine that means we will be so focused on worshiping Our Creator that there will be little time for other distractions. But if there is opportunity to set up a welcoming committee, then please know that your Papa will be waiting for you, front and center, when you cross over into the new life. Just know that I love you so much and am praying very hard that you would truly love God and have a spectacular life!

Until we meet again--I love you, Bobby! Love, Papa.

Sources:

Engelsma, D. (1986, September 1). The Unity and Diversity of Holy Scripture. The Standard Bearer, 62(20).

Holiday, R. (2017, December 9). Tell Me Who You Spend Time With, And I Will Tell You Who You Are. Medium

Wikle, G. (2024, May 20). What is the Bible? Watermark Community Church.