Word Counter

Remember Gert? He was the one I told you about some time ago who had a quiet neighbour, called Steve. Steve was the farmer who walked through life almost absent while Gert was the loud and busy one.

Remember when Steve died and Gert’s wife told him about the death of his neighbour and how Gert responded, “Steve died? I didn’t know he was alive.”

The day arrived when Gert also died. The nurse looked down at the lifeless body and removed all the life supporting equipment. Everything went silent…. No sound of pulsating heart monitors, no more, “Hello nurse, how are you? How is your family?” The big body and everything around him suddenly fell silent.

Gert always talked. He managed to sustain a conversation with people around him whether they were acquaintances of his, or not. When he was alone he did not stop talking either.

His prayer life took a form of constant communication with Jesus. Even when he could not speak out loud, for instance when he was in church, he talked to Jesus in his mind.

He asked Jesus to heal the poor woman in the second aisle. To bless the young couple with the new baby. Even asking Jesus to forgive the preacher for leading the man in front of him into a deep coma with his soothing, monotonous voice.

Every action, healing, change of heart, smile or miracle that so often took place where Gert was, had ended because his voice fell silent. Someone who knew how to express his love for Jesus and fellow men, that was Gert. What a loss for us, his friends when he died, but what a glory to God his life had been.

Every person has a word counter, or rather and more importantly, a word evaluation counter. When we would buy a secondhand car, the first instrument we would check, is the odometer. Some cars may appear to be new but the odometer would reveal the true picture.

I suppose Gert’s word meter would suggest he was well-used. His meter could have been flipped over to zero a couple of times. (Mat 12:36,37)

The number of words used, is not important however, but their impact, the meaning and intent of those words. Gert’s life was like a road map with roads leading into all directions with colourful pictures of lives he touched by speaking to Jesus. Many knew what Gert had done and many are totally unaware of his influence. Jesus knows.

Now, while he is in heaven, I can imagine how he and Jesus are enjoying his short history on earth, looking back at their involvement in life together, because Gert was never silent. (Prov 10:11, 18:21, 2Co 13:1)