Final Destination

My distant aunt (Mary) had been sick for months, and she finally decided to visit a doctor. After the bloodwork was completed, she received life-altering news. She only had one month to live.

She wasn’t sure how to feel, except numb. Mary remained quiet about the sickness, until her last week. Fortunately, that was more than enough time to tell her about Jesus. I planned to visit…soon.

My calendar was packed between school, friends and date nights. I studied hard, played harder and enjoyed my time with Ashley. Four days passed, and my schedule finally cleared. Ashley and I rushed to the hospital with a Bible in one hand and flowers in the other.

We traversed the long, winding corridors until finally reaching her room. To our surprise, the bed was empty. We quickly discovered that Mary had passed a few hours prior…alone.

I placed the Bible on a bare table as a single petal fell from the flowers. It slowly drifted towards the cold floor while guilt settled upon me. While the petal continued to fall, the air-condition suddenly came on and blew the petal beyond my sight. We sadly left the room, but days later, we were relieved to hear that she had accepted Christ in her last moments.

In LOTK, Nellas is a pompous prince. Arandorion has a private conversation with him to discuss salvation (Last Stand page 144). “They’ve learned not to follow their heart, but something greater.” The story progresses and Nellas dies alone, but not before admitting salvation has come through humanity.

Nellas represents those who accept Christ just before their death. In some cases, we must trust that God will do His greatest work in the last seconds. Our final destination will be determined by our relationship with Christ (Matthew 25:46).

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Ephesians 4-5