Inches from death!

Maybe you have heard it said before, or you have said it yourself, "I was this (fingers illustrating) close to dying. And of course there are the many times where we are so close to death that we don't even recognize it. For me today (already) has been an eye-opener as to the frailty of life.
Our church is located about a block from the town plaza. In order to get to the church you need to go down a small hill and across an even smaller bridge. So today as I was walking down the hill and about to cross the bridge, I found myself face to face with death. No joke. The small bridge can handle two-way traffic but only recommended at very slow velocity. It is a tight fit. When I looked over and saw a blue car crossing the bridge (towards the church) and nothing crossing en route to the plaza, I figured that it was time to step out into the "unoccupied" lane, wait for the blue car to pass and then finish crossing the bridge myself. Something (or better stated "Someone") detained me for what I believe was a millisecond. Praise God for that Someone. All of a sudden, just as I was to step into the "unoccupied" lane, a white van speeded past the blue car on "my" side of the bridge. If that "Someone" had not detained me for that millisecond I would have been dead. No doubt about it. I would have taken the hit full force in the back and would have been slammed to the pavement-instant death I am sure. So when this didn't happen I was of course very thankful and at the same time very startled with the gravity of the situation. I had only planned on going across a physical bridge down to the beachside but I almost ended up crossing over the river into the presence of the Lord. Although I concur with the Apostle Paul that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2nd Corinthians 5:8) and that is truly the best place to be (Philippians 1:23), I wasn't planning on it happening today. (Hebrews 9:27; Luke 12:20; James 4:13-16) The words of a plaque that I have hanging on the wall speak even louder to me at this moment, "Only one life and it will soon be past, only what is done for Christ will last." Praise be to God for the victory that we have in and through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37; 1st Corinthians 15:56-57). In Job 19:25-26 we read "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the Earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God." Please consider with me a part of the beautiful hymn 'O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing'
"He breaks the power of cancelled sin
He sets the captive free
His blood can make the foulest clean His blood
His blood availed for me."
And then this line from the beautiful hymn 'There is a Fountain'
"There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains
Lose all their guilty stains
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."

Yes, inches from death but also inches from everlasting life in Christ. (1st Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 9:14-15; 10:11-14)