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due,” the older folks might say, when asked to take a position in the church. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matthew 5:41). I have fond memories of my grandmother leading my Sunday School “junior department, ” as it was called back in the day.What stands out most is a hymn we must have sung almost every week, Our Best, by Salathiel C. Kirk.The chorus went as follows:

Every work for Jesus will be blest, But He asks from everyone his best. Our talents may by few, these may be small, But unto Him is due our best, our all.

Oh Lord, as the years race by, may we not slip into mediocrity. Finally, grasp the fact that though you’ve stopped breathing, you haven’t stopped influencing. Fast forward, perhaps several months, to the point that the flesh of a buried Elisha had begun to decompose. As another funeral party was in the process of burying a man, they fell under the threat of an enemy and cast the body into the grave of Elisha. “And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet” (2 Kings 13:21). So God had a surprise up His sleeve after all. No chariots of fire from heaven this time, yet one final miracle takes place and a life is extended due to the power of God and the bones of Elisha. Add to that the multiple millions of people who have read about and been inspired by this man over the centuries. On February 21, 2018, Billy Graham died just one year shy of 100. He leaves behind a legacy of millions of changed lives and saved souls, two thriving global ministries (one that bears his name and Samaritan’s Purse, the international relief organization led by his son Franklin), five children, 19 grandchildren, and much more such as countless sermons available online.

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