All that I need

In The Cure for a Troubled Heart author and pastor Ron Mehl writes:293 I heard once about a dear, saintly old woman who was gradually losing her memory. Details began to blur.... Throughout her life, however, this woman had cherished and depended on the Word of God, committing to memory many verses from her worn King James Bible.

Her favorite verse had always been 2 Timothy 1:12: "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

She was finally confined to bed in a nursing home, and her family knew she would never leave alive. As they visited with her, she would still quote verses of Scripture on occasion—especially 2 Timothy 1:12. But with the passing of time, even parts of this well-loved verse began to slip away.

"I know whom I have believed," she would say. "He is able to keep... what I have committed... to him."

Her voice grew weaker. And the verse became even shorter. "What I have committed... to him."

As she was dying, her voice became so faint family members had to bend over to listen to the few whispered words on her lips. And at the end, there was only one word of her life verse left.

"Him."

She whispered it again and again as she stood on the threshold of heaven. "Him... Him... Him."

It was all that was left. It was all that was needed.