Some time prior to 1985 my mom and dad went to some training event – I have no idea where but it was with the church,  and called Evangelism Explosion.  When dad got home he learned one thing that I remember: “What would you say if you died to day and had to stand in front of God (for judgment)?” I don’t remember what my answer was but I remember hoping that I would pass that test, and also knew that I had no hope of passing that test without Jesus.

Moving forward a lot of years, my dad sat on the couch in my home and told me “You turned out much better that I thought you were going to.” Apparently dad thought I didn’t have much chance of a good outcome. I am not sure that he thought my (really poor) grades in school were going to set the tone for my life, or the struggle to find my path would not be a success, or what. I don’t thing dad knew how much his question from evangelism Explosion reverberated through the years.  It boils down to the answer to the question – if you look at my worldly legacy, what is there to look at? The answer to the question, just like the right answer in Sunday school, is Jesus. 

Words that ring in my head, eloquently stated by the band Casting Crowns:

[Chorus]

And I-I-I, I don’t want to leave a legacy

I don’t care if they remember me

Only Jesus

And I-I-I, I’ve only got one life to live

I’ll let every second point to Him

Only Jesus

Its taken me a few years to refine that, I have had to persevere through a lot of junk, and we are not out of the woods yet, but the question remains. I hope the fruit of my life answers it, and when I am not present, words that I left with you will echo in your head that you are loved by me, and most importantly, loved by the creator of the universe, who is the answer to my dad’s explosive question,  Jesus. 

I imagine my dad will say, when his time comes to stand before God’s judgement seat will answer just like the five year old in Sunday school class, he will raise his hand and dance, knowing the answer is JESUS. His answer is the same as mine will be. When the question falls, why should I welcome you here, I imagine I will speak Jesus name and Jesus will say, Yes, you are one of mine. Because my dad asked me a question, and showed me a pretty good example. Only Jesus.