Six years ago, while working as the Associate Director of Premier Health and Fitness Center, I had a very sobering experience that changed my life forever. A good friend of mine named Javos was getting ready to teach our after work step aerobics class. Javos, a devout Christian, was one of the first people I hired to help oversee our fitness program. Javos, who at 42 looked like he was in his mid- twenties, was probably the best conditioned individual in the whole facility. Due to the convenient time and popularity of Javos as an instructor, it was one of the highest attended classes we offered at the fitness center. Five minutes before the class, Javos and I were in the break room talking about how wonderful it will be when we see Jesus face to face in heaven.
About fifteen minutes into teaching the class, Javos fell violently to the floor landing face first on the ground. Immediately, doctors and nurses who were working out in the gym began to administer CPR to Javos. In a state of panic, several people from the aerobic class came rushing into my office to inform me about their fallen instructor. As I walked into the aerobics room, the paramedics had arrived and were trying to revive Javos. In just a few minutes, I went from doing office work to riding in the front seat of the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
The wait at the hospital seemed like an eternity as we grew impatient hoping to hear some news about our friend. About an hour later, a doctor came into our room with a distraught and confused look on his face. He told us that they had spent forty-five minutes trying to resuscitate Javos, and could not get his heart to beat again. Our paragon of fitness and virtue was dead.
I had the responsibility of calling his mother and other family members to tell them the news. Javos had no relatives that lived in Tallahassee. Therefore, I also had to go to the employee parking lot and clean out all of Javos’ belongings from his car. As I was collecting his cross that hung from this rear view mirror, the reality that we can take nothing with us when we die struck my mind like lightning.
1 Timothy 6:7 says, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. “ I sat in his car and stared at a possession that was very personal to Javos and no longer with him. He left everything he owned behind. Even the most recognized symbol of Christianity, a cross, did not go into eternity with Javos.
Stay tuned for part 2 of Possession Obsession.
1 comment:
I remember you told this story a couple weeks ago at church; very deep. It really is crazy the way someone in such good shape just had a heart attack like that; right after saying he wanted to know what it'd be like to meet Jesus "face to face".
This story really does make you think about a lot of things, mainly how we can go at anytime and that mankind really is so vulnerable; therefore how much more we need God.
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