For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Death is an inevitable part of life that we all must face. My desire is that at the end of my life, whether that is tomorrow, or in another 60 years, I'll be able to look back and see how I served God to the end, throughout all of the seasons of life. I (and many others in Greenville over the last few years) have had theprivilegee of seeing a man live in this way: Keith LeClair. For those who don't know of him, Coach LeClair came to ECU and helped to take our baseball program to a position of national prominence. He was also a strong Christian with a wife and two kids. In the midst of his successful career, he was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and had to step down from his coaching job and quickly was confined to a wheelchair, respirator and feeding tube.
It would have been easy and tempting to get mad at God over something like this- after all, it doesn't fit with our human understanding of fairness. We like to think that if we seek God and live obediently, then He'll make sure we're healthy and comfortable. But, God doesn't work this way; sometimes things like suffering and death bring God more glory. That's tough and I really hope that if God chooses to do something like this in my life, that He'll grant me the grace and strength to act as Coach LeClair did. From what I understand, He spent much of his time writing (using a special computer operated by using his eyes) and continuing to glorify God in his life even in the midst of this. He is a real hero in the midst of a world that glorifies things like selfishness and irresponsibility.
One quote he had in an interview a few years ago was: "We don't know the answers, and we never will until we have that day of judgment. I don't ask, 'Why me?' That's irrelevant. I'm just grateful to have today."
Coach LeClair went home to be with the Lord this morning. Through his life, so many people have been touched by the gospel and seen the power of God manifested. He seemed to do as Paul did: fight the good fight until the end. I hope and pray that I too, by God's power, will continue to live for Christ and seek to make Him known until the end, regardless of what He brings about (or allows) in my life.
-JRO
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