This post is written by Andrew Hall as a companion for Unit 23, Session 5 of The Gospel Project for Adults, Volume 8: From Wonder to Rejection (Summer 2023).

In the final years of my grandfather’s life, his aching bones gave him increased grief and his memory began to fail. At 90 years of age, he described these senior years of his life not as the golden years but the rusty ones.

Coming to faith early in life, my grandfather had dedicated his life to knowing the Lord. From playing in the church band to serving as an elder, my grandfather had lived every day seeking to be a faithful disciple of Christ.

But as the years took their toll, his boldness got stronger. With the end of his life drawing closer, he would invite us to sing hymns that he had learned from childhood, quoted Scripture with us, and talked about the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. He would look at the world and be concerned at the degrading morality around him and willingly share with the nurses at the retirement home about Christ. “You never know when He’s coming back,” he would remind us.

Christ’s return wasn’t something abstract for my grandfather. He longed for it. He spoke about the imminent return of Christ. His life reflected that of an active disciple who was watching and working for his Master’s return. Jesus was on his lips. Obedience mattered to him. Living wisely was critical.

Trusting Christ was my grandfather’s daily hope. It was the reason he lived. He could be heard singing hymns while he worked in his shop, and he loved to tell of God’s mercy he had received in his life. He longed for Christ’s return, but he wasn’t afraid—he was eager.

At the graveside service for my grandfather in 2020, my family stood around. I watched the tears flow from my siblings and cousins. But the most touching moment was when we sang as a family one of my grandfather’s favorite hymns:

“Sing the wondrous love of Jesus, Sing His mercy and His grace; In the mansions bright and blessed He’ll prepare for us a place. . . . Let us then be true and faithful, Trusting, serving ev’ry day; Just one glimpse of Him in glory Will the toils of life repay!”

Eliza E. Hewitt, “When We All Get to Heaven,” Baptist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: Lifeway Worship, 2008), 603.

If anyone ever taught me what it meant to live for Christ and long for His return with a watchful eye and a working heart, it was my grandfather. I deeply miss him. I’m thankful for his life and his faith and its impact on me. He knew the joy of heaven here on earth. And now he knows it fully. And I can almost hear him singing right now: “When we all see Jesus, We’ll sing and shout the victory!”

Andrew Hall is the Lead Pastor of Community Bible Church, located in Ilderton, Ontario, Canada. He is a graduate from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Melanie, have four children.