Parable 80 - Parables of Steel by Robert Dean Steel

   A couple was waiting in the doctor's office waiting for his verdict on the man's condition.  He had been sick for quite a while but he had put his sickness on just working to hard and being fatigued.  He had finally agreed to see the doctor only after many strong urging's of his wife.  It was in that first visit and the subsequent ones that followed that they now found themselves here.  The doctor came in and smiled and said, "Well I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear?"  They replied, "Well lets hear the bad news first."  He said, "O.K. you have cancer but the good news is we can treat it."  They sat shocked for a moment and then sighed, "When do we get started?"  The doctor replied "Well I just have to check one more thing before you leave and I will get a treatment plan started."  The doctor left and came back a few moments later.  He face however was ashen and full of concern.  He looked at the couple and said, "I am so sorry, I misread your diagnosis.  You have four to six months to live."
   The couple left devastated.  The man sat on his porch that night thinking about he had spent his life.  Thirty years ago he had served the Lord but one offense had caused him to give up his faith.  Now in the face of eternity, he gave his life back to the Lord.  He was glad he gave his life back to the Lord but he had one regret and that was all the years he had wasted on selfish pursuits and those he could never regain.  He prayed he would finish well.  D.L. Moody said, "Death bed confessions or eleventh hour conversions as wonderful as they are, are like burning the candle at both ends and then blowing the smoke in God's face."