While working on the devotions for “No Trouble Troubles Me” I stumbled across this great testimony found over at the Bach Cantatas website. If you have not subscribed to the daily devotion by email yet, do so here.
Now that I have reached the 70th year of my life and also
have the joyful hope that my dear, holy God will soon rescue me out of this
world and lead me into a better life than I have had until now on earth, I
thank Him especially for all His kindness and faithfulness which, from my
mother’s womb until the present hour, He has shown me in body and soul and in
all that He has given me. Besides this, I ask Him from the bottom of my heart
that when my hour comes He would grant me a happy departure, take my soul into
His fatherly hands, and give my body a peaceful rest in the ground until the
dear Last Day, when I, with all of my [family] who have been before me and also
may remain after me, will reawake and behold my dear Lord Jesus Christ face to
face, in whom I have believed but have not yet seen. To my only son whom I am
leaving behind I leave few earthly goods, but with them I leave him an
honorable name of which he will not have to be ashamed.
My son knows that from his tender childhood I have given him to the Lord my God
as His possession, that he is to become a servant and preacher of His holy
Word. He is to remain now in this and not turn away from it, even if he has
only few good days in it. For the good Lord knows how to handle it and how
sufficiently to replace external troubles with internal happiness of the heart
and joy of the spirit.
Study holy theology in pure schools and at unfalsified universities and beware
of the syncretists [those who mix religions or confessions], for they seek what
is temporal and are faithful to neither God nor men. In your common life do not
follow evil company but rather the will and command of your God. Especially:
(1) Do nothing evil in the hope that it will remain secret, for nothing is spun
so small that it is not seen in the light of day. (2) Outside of your office
and vocation do not become angry. If you notice that anger has heated you up, remain
still and speak not so much as a word until you have first prayed the Ten
Commandments and the Christian Creed silently. (3) Be ashamed of the lusts of
the flesh, and when you one day come to the years in which you can marry, then marry
with God and with the good advice of pious, faithful, and sensible people. (4)
Do good to people even if they have nothing with which to repay you, for the
Creator of heaven and earth has long since repaid what humans cannot repay:
when He created you, when He gave you His beloved Son, and when He accepted you
in Holy Baptism as His child and heir. (5) Flee from greed as from hell. Be
satisfied with what you have earned with honor and a good conscience, even if
it is not all too much. But if the good Lord gives you something more, ask Him
to preserve you from the burdensome misuse of temporal goods.
In summary: Pray diligently, study something honorable, live peacefully, serve
honestly, and remain unmoved in your faith and confessing. If you do this, you
too will one day die and depart from this world willingly, joyfully, and
blessedly. Amen.
What a wonderful testimony. I sometimes wonder how I would do something like this for my son, not leaving anything important out. The simplicity and direct nature of his testimony is a great model.
Thank you, Pastor Scheer. This is simply wonderful. God give us all such piety.
“My son knows that from his tender childhood I have given him to the Lord my God as His possession, that he is to become a servant and preacher of His holy Word.”
I wonder whether it wise to commit one’s child before God to a particular vocation. Would it not be better to be completely open and trusting about where God may lead?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8 ESV