Frank Sinatra or Billy Graham?

Reverend Billy Graham

Frank Sinatra

 
    The righteous flourish like the palm tree

        and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

    They are planted in the house of the LORD;

        they flourish in the courts of our God.

    They still bear fruit in old age;

        they are ever full of sap and green,

    to declare that the LORD is upright;

      He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psalm 92:12-15

Billy Graham once said, "All my life I've been taught how to die, but no one ever taught me how to grow old."

And Frank Sinatra, in his much played song crooned, "And now the end is near and so I face the final curtain, I’ll state my case of which I’m certain. I’ve lived a life that’s full, I traveled each and ev’ry highway, and more, much more than this. I did it my way."

God has given Billy Graham, now at the ripe old age  of 93, many years to learn how to grow old, and he has flourished in the courts of our God.  In October of last year his son Franklin said that he was working on a new book!  Now whether we agree with all of his approach or not, we can all say that Reverend Billy Graham has led a righteous life over the years.  And he is still bearing fruit in old age.

Then there is Frank Sinatra.  I love his crooning tunes, but what should his epitaph read?  "I did it my way!"  And where does doing it "my way" lead?  Unless Jesus Christ is Lord of one's life, eternity is at stake.  That song came out when I was a young mother, and I sat down one day and wrote a letter to Frank Sinatra!  Can you believe that?  I don't know if he ever read that piece of fan mail, but in it I shared the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the error of the song. 

It is my prayer that each of us live a righteous life, still bear fruit in old age, and remain full of sap and green.

Call me "sappy," I don't care!
Gloria