\n<\/p>\n
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I promised my mother I wouldn\u2019t leave her side. For 3 years she had been in a nursing home with numerous health problems that had been whittling away her body for decades. With the end of her suffering imminent, what she feared most was being left alone. What I feared most was not being there as she transitioned to her new eternal home. I slept in a recliner near her bed whenever allowed.<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that she wasn\u2019t ingesting food or fluids, mom lingered for days, not really conscious but occasionally calling out. I was glad I could hold her hand and remind her I was there.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to let her go. But my heart ached to see her like this\u2014my once community- league-volleyball-champ mom, now so weak her limbs trembled. My Renaissance-woman mom who encouraged my own talents and believed I could do anything. She was slipping away from me, but time moved so slowly.<\/p>\n
Other family members came, and staff would come in and visit with us. At one point more than 20 family members huddled in that little room, sitting on folding chairs around mom\u2019s bed, singing out of hymnals borrowed from the nursing home chapel. My mother loved music, especially the enduring hymns. We couldn\u2019t tell whether or not she knew what was going on, but we hoped the music would comfort her in ways we couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
A day or so later, a family member asked one of the nurses, \u201cWhy is she just hanging on like this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWel, I\u2019m no theologian\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve heard it said that some people may have things they need to deal with before they pass on. They may have to atone for some sin.\u201d<\/p>\n
My niece stiffened. \u201cOh, no! That\u2019s not true,\u201d she objected. \u201cMy grandma is a Christian, and the Bible says that Jesus paid it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The apostle John, who stayed nearby during the tremendous suffering of Christ on the cross, heard his Master cry out, \u201cIt is finished\u201d (John 19:30).<\/p>\n
What was finished?<\/p>\n
The author of Hebrews, after laying out the intricacies of God\u2019s great eternal plan to deal with the sin of all humanity, writes this: \u201cAfter he [Jesus] had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven\u201d (1:3).<\/p>\n
We all know the wonderful feeling of being able to sit down after finishing a huge, exhausting project. That\u2019s what Jesus got to do after accomplishing his awesome work of paying the price for our sins against Holy God. He washed them all away with his precious lifeblood. Nothing remained to be done except for us to believe that it was finished.<\/p>\n
Jesus crossed the \u201cFinished\u201d Line, giving his life to pay for our sins\u2014now and forever\u2014and then he sat down. What great good news!<\/p>\n
My mom had nothing to atone for, yet not because she was sinless. Though she was a wonderful mother, I know she wasn\u2019t perfect. But Mom had settled her eternal destiny about 70 years earlier. As a young teenager, she had placed her faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross to atone for all her sin\u2014past, present, and future.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know why God allowed my mom to linger so long. But within hours of our conversation with that non-theologian nurse\u2014in God\u2019s always-perfect timing\u2014both Mom and I found peace. I relaxed, knowing she had stepped into heaven, the place Jesus was preparing for her (John 14:1\u20133). Instantly, with her Savior by her side, she was not alone\u2014and would never be alone again\u2014because Jesus paid it all.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus Paid It All\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n by Alvina M. Hall<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I hear the Savior say,<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThy strength indeed is small,<\/em><\/p>\n Child of weakness, watch and pray,<\/em><\/p>\n Find in Me thine all in all.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Jesus paid it all,<\/em><\/p>\n All to Him I owe;<\/em><\/p>\n Sin had left a crimson stain,<\/em><\/p>\n He washed it white as snow.<\/em><\/p>\n Lord, now indeed I find<\/em><\/p>\n Thy pow\u2019r and Thine alone,<\/em><\/p>\n Can change the leper\u2019s spots<\/em><\/p>\n And melt the heart of stone.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For nothing good have I<\/em><\/p>\n Whereby Thy grace to claim;<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ll wash my garments white<\/em><\/p>\n In the blood of Calv\u2019ry\u2019s Lamb.<\/em><\/p>\n And when, before the throne,<\/em><\/p>\n I stand in Him complete,<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cJesus died my soul to save,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n My lips shall still repeat.<\/em><\/p>\n Joyce K. Ellis is an award-winning author who has published hundreds of articles in Christian publications. Her 18 published books include The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman, Our Heart Psalms, and a picture book for children, The Fabulous World That God Made. She is a member of the Evangelical Press Association, which honored her in 2023 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She and her husband, Steve, live in suburban Minneapolis, where they are members of Wooddale Church. They have 3 grown children, 7 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n