By Jeanene Burns -- Jeremy's Aunt.
Jeanene wrote this to read to her youth Bible study, Thursday's Teen.
Darrel, Jeremy and Jeanene
Christmas 1999.
It is important to know that Jeremy was a good person
His mother, father, and sister live in Roswell, New Mexico
He attended college and was a member of the Oklahoma Air National Guard.
He talked daily to his mother on the phone.
He was kind and polite.
He took care of himself, never took drugs and never even smoked.
He was training to run a 26 miles marathon in a few weeks.
WHAT SATAN MEANT FOR EVIL
GOD WILL USE FOR GOOD
On Monday, March 20, 1978, at 1:23 in the morning, in Panorama City,
California, I held my sister, Janell's hand as Jeremy David came into this
world. He weighted 8 lbs.
On Monday, January 17th, 2000, I held her hand as we laid him to rest
in Lightning Ridge Cemetery in Ada, Oklahoma.
Jeremy and Janell lived with Darrel and me for the first few weeks
of Jeremy's life. He was a fussy baby and the first night home from the hospital
he cried all night. Janell was exhausted and in the early morning hours she
finally came into our bedroom and held him out to Darrel and me and said,
"here, you take him for awhile."
And, in much the same way, this past weekend, she reached up to God
and said to Him, "here, You take him and give him the happiness he's been
searching for."
Jeremy was 21 years old and this is what he would have wanted me to
tell you.
When Jeremy was a very small boy his mother would tuck him into bed
each night. She would read stories from the Bible to him or sing softly
to him until he fell asleep. He would listen to tapes of children's songs
and one night one of the songs caught his attention. This is what the song
said -- it was very simple.
Come into my heart Lord Jesus, Come into my heart, I pray Come in today, Come in to stay, Come into my heart Lord Jesus.
Jeremy asked his mother what that meant and she explained to him that
if he was sorry for any bad things he had done he could ask Jesus to forgive
him and come into his heart. He said, "I want to do that!" So
right there on his bed that night, Jeremy talked to God and gave his heart
to Jesus. When they finished praying, he looked up and said, "Let's go tell
Papa what I just did!" Jeremy wanted to share this Good News.
But that's not the end of the story. The last few weeks in Thursday's
Teen, we have been talking about God's will for our lives. And God's will
for us is that we become His children by asking him to save us. But that's
not all God wants from us. He not only want to be our Savior but He wants
to be LORD in our lives. And, somewhere in Jeremy's teen years - about the
age you are now - the world and its ideas of what can make you happy
came into Jeremy's life and waged a war inside of him.
The world, which is in Satan's control, tells you that you can find
happiness in things. You want the best of everything. You must have certain
clothes. It tells you that you can find happiness in drugs or seeing how
many people you can sleep with. You will be happy when you surround yourself
with friends and go out and drink, party, and have a good time. And that's
where Jeremy lost sight of God's will for his life.
Jeremy discovered that you cannot serve two masters. You cannot travel
in two directions at the same time. When you get on I-40 and travel west,
your back is to the east and you are going away from it. If you turn and
go east, your back is to the west.
Listen to Jesus' own words in Matthew 6:19-24 --
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal;
but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your
treasure is, there will be your heart also. The lamp of the body is the eye;
if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore
the light that is in your is darkness, HOW GREAT IS THE DARKNESS! No one
can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon
(The World.)
Jeremy knew the direction he should be going, but the world's pull
was so strong, he chose not to resist. He gave into Satan's LIES and chose
to serve the world.
Jeremy would tell those of us who loved him - that when he got a
little older - then he would stop going the world's way and live his life
for the Lord -- but, for now, he wanted to have some fun and be happy.
But, you know what? He was never happy. And, this past Thursday
night, when he went with his friends, all they wanted was to have a good time
and be happy. They went to dinner and then on to a club in search of this
happiness. They thought drinking and partying with friends would make them
happy.
While they were there, a girl, who Jeremy had thought would make
him happy, someone who had rejected him earlier last year, someone who had
turned her back to him, said something to him that made his snap. And when
his friends dropped him off at this apartment, in a drunken stupor - he scribbled
a note and in the dead of the night, Jeremy took his own life.
One of his friends drove up less than 10 minutes after he had been
dropped off, but it was too late. The master Jeremy had chosen had
won this battle. But, he will not win the war!
In all the years Jeremy chose the wrong mater, Jesus had never rejected
him or turned his back on Jeremy. He was always waiting, with open arms for
Jeremy to choose Him to be Lord in his life.
Instead, Jesus welcomed Jeremy with open arms into the Kingdom of
Heaven early Friday morning where Jeremy has finally found what he had been
searching for all along - true happiness.
He could have, and should have, had it here on this earth had he
only chosen the right master.
Jeremy's life touched so many people. He had everything going
for him. He was handsome. He never met a stranger. He could talk to anyone
and make them feel special. He could charm the socks off anyone! So many
people told us that they were Jeremy's "best friend." And so many said, "He
always listened to me." His family adored him. He was the only Grandson,
surrounded by Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins who loved and teased and spoiled
him. The funeral home was packed to over-flowing. Many people drove from
hundreds of miles to attend his funeral. He life had touched so many people.
He could have used all those charms and talents to serve God, but instead
he chose the wrong master.
But God will not allow his death to be in vain. God will make this
tragedy become and triumph, because those of us who loved Jeremy will share
his story - just the way Jeremy would have wanted us to. God has trusted
our family with the task of bringing Glory to God from our pain.
JEREMY'S DEATH WILL BRING GLORY TO GOD!
SATAN DIDN'T WIN!
GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL!
If Jeremy were standing here today - just as he stood right there
just 4 weeks ago - he would tell you that you cannot find peace and happiness
in the things of this world. They are only temporary. All of the things
that were so important to Jeremy - all the mementos - all the right clothes
- the perfect SUV - all the alcohol and parties. All of that is still over
in Ada - bringing no one happiness.
Alcohol and parting with friends did not bring him happiness - they
were what killed him. Alcohol took the Jeremy we knew away from us.
Jeremy would tell you that it is not enough to just give your heart
to God. He would tell you that you must surrender your heart, body soul,
and mind to God's control. You must choose to go God's way and not the worlds.
Just like the time when Jeremy gave his heart to Jesus and he wanted
to share that Good News with his Papa, Jeremy would want those of us who
loved him to share this story with others. To bring Glory to God - to help
others make the decision to choose Jesus as Lord of their lives.
Joshua 24:15 says:
And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the
Lord, choose for yourselves today who you will serve: whether the gods which
your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites
in whose land your are living (the world) BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL
SERVE THE LORD.
This is not a choice made once and it's done - like the choice
of salvation. That of course, is the first and more important choice. Choosing
to make Jesus, Lord of your life is a daily decision.
Last Updated August 3,
2008. Created January 24, 2000
