Sarah was curled up on the couch doing 
what she liked best…. reading! It didn’t matter to her if all her Christmas presents were square parcels, every book she got was a friend! It didn’t matter if it was an old fashioned book like Anne of Green Gables or if it was a modern one written by Rosie Boom. She loved them all and would read them over and over again.
Bobby couldn’t have cared less about books. “Books!” he would say scornfully, “Who wants to read a book! We have enough of them at school!”
Uncle Jeff came into the room one day in time to hear him say this. “What’s this you are saying Bobby?” he asked, “What do you think is better than a book, hey?”
“I like doing things,” Bobby said, “Things like pressing buttons and watching a screen. There are so many things you can do with an I-Pad!” He heaved a big sigh.
“But you are allowed to use Mum’s I-Pad for a bit every day, aren’t you?” asked Uncle Jeff, “What’s wrong with that?” “But that’s only if we have earned good points”, said Bobby, “It’s so hard to earn good points. You have to be good ALL the time or you lose some! If I had my own I-Pad, I could play with it all the time!”
“Do you think that playing with the I-Pad all the time would make you good?” asked Uncle Jeff. “Well, I wouldn’t have time to be naughty”, said Bobby, “I’d be too busy playing with it. Bang,bang, shoot ‘em all dead!”
“Do you think that it’s a good idea to fill your mind with those sort of things?” asked Uncle Jeff.
Bobby wriggled uncomfortably. “Well, no, I s’pose not”, he said.
“You know it wouldn’t hurt you to read a book now and then”, said Uncle Jeff, “It’s surprising what you learn from reading a good story! Did you know that God has books too?”
“No, does He really?” asked Bobby.
“Yes, He does, and everything we say, do, or think is written down in one of His books!”
“Ooh, that’s scary!” Bobby said, “You mean EVERYTHING that we say or think is written down?”
“Yes, and there’s another book called the Book of Life that God has written in too…He writes in the names of everyone who loves the Lord Jesus”. (Revelation 20:12)
“I love Jesus!” Betty piped up.
Sarah stirred herself on the couch, and sat up. “Yes”, she said, “and that book was written before the world was made wasn’t it Uncle Jeff!”
“That is true Sarah,” Uncle Jeff said, “So you see Bobby, books are very important, not only to read, but also to write. We each one have to make sure that our names are written in God’s book. Just being good isn’t enough. We have to tell God we are sorry for the naughty things we’ve done, and then we’ll know our names are there. So you see Bobby, books are very important!”
Our young friend has gone. Cancer is a cruel thing, asking no pardon but taking its allotted course. There are no “beg your pardons” for the pain it causes, both the physical pain and the mental and emotional pain of those who are left behind. No-one expects to see their grand-son born, married and then attend his funeral. Likewise the pain of seeing your son born, grow up, and then going through the trauma and pain of caring for him while an all pervading tumour gradually takes him away. We cannot imagine the pain of seeing your young husband of less than two years being in so much pain and gradually fading away, getting weaker and weaker, then not knowing you and eventually having to watch him taken from you.
