I know many people reject Jesus Christ to their dying day. But I’ve seen too many saved in their dying days to believe God somehow stops caring about the unrepentant after age twenty or forty or sixty or eighty.  Not everyone goes to heaven. But never assume that someone who died today—and who knowingly rejected the Good News of Jesus Christ for years—went to hell. Never assume that. Never say such words. Only God knows that.

Instead, let’s continue to pray for the salvation of our loved ones right to the very end. Then, let us trust that our they are in the hands of a just and merciful God.

My friend Renée had her two grandfathers. The first grandpa rejected the Gospel his entire life. Yet he ended up trusting Jesus Christ two days before he died. Renée’s other grandfather even more adamantly rejected Jesus Christ his whole life. When he died, Renée and her husband, David, told their children what I said above. A few short days later they learned that second grandpa had trusted Christ the day before he died.

How good, how very good, that no matter what, the Lord never gives up. The same God who saved us doesn’t want anyone else to perish. Instead, He wants all to come to repentance.

This is Andrew Palau.