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ow is it that we take so keen interest to notice the last words spoken by our loved ones? Why is it that we are so keen to record what was on their minds at that moment more than at any other time in their lives?

The reason is simple. [ictt-tweet-inline]You cannot fake it when you are dying[/ictt-tweet-inline]. You are suspended between life and death and therefore, only the most important aspects of life will you speak. In fact, even if you were not a spiritual person, you will notice on your deathbed that there are only two major things in life:

• Spirituality
• People

All else fade away like dust brown away by vicious wind. We all know this. How? Take a look at the last time you were under pressure. What mattered to you most as your heart was crushed with hopelessness? Was it things or was it people? Was it values or valuables? Was it tangibles or intangibles? You know the answer.

The Fake Steve Jobs’ Last Words

There are stories being peddled around of Steve Job’s Last words. I have on my Kindle Steve Jobs’ biography. I never saw these words being peddled around. And so when I came across this “new information”, I decided to check it out. The following are the words purported to have been spoken by Steve Jobs just before he died:

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In other’s eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. IN the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to. At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.

In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of god of death drawing closer…

Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth….

“Oh Wow, Oh Wow, Oh Wow” –Steve Jobs

Those words are fake. It seems as if Steve Jobs was writing, not speaking. So the only authentic last words are recorded by his Biographer, Walter Isaacson, whom I consider one of the most brilliant biographers this world has ever seen. The following is what Walter records of Steve’s last moments on earth:

That Tuesday afternoon, he kept staring into his children’s eyes. At one point he looked at Patty and his children for a long time, then at Laurene, and finally gazed past them into the distance. “Oh wow,” he said. “Oh wow. Oh wow.” Those were his final words before he drifted into unconsciousness sometime around two that afternoon.

Isaacson, Walter. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography (p. 528). Little, Brown Book Group. Kindle Edition.

It Is Finished—Jesus Christ

The Son of God had been hanging on the cross for 6 hours! From noon till 3:00 pm, total darkness enveloped the city and the scene of the crucifixion. Those two things: Silence and darkness spell lifelessness. Can you imagine that eerie scene?

Then at around 3:00 pm, a deep groan and a shriek pierced the atmosphere to a sound unlike no other person ever crucified ever cried. (Most of them according to history used to cuss and speak unprintable stuff as they hung on their crosses).

“Father, Father, Why Have you forsaken me!!!”

Came out the loud helpless cry that went unanswered, drowned by the darkness and more silence. But those were not the last words.

Then shortly after, he said, “It is finished” and bowed down his head and yielded his Spirit. Gone, but having finished.

[ictt-tweet-inline]To die well, you need to live well daily[/ictt-tweet-inline]

Friends, those are the greatest last words that we should all aspire to speak. Not exactly word for word, but the essence of those words is what I am fronting. What is the essence?

1. He knew His Assignment

There are several statements that Jesus made starting with “I am”. [ictt-tweet-inline]Anything that comes after the word “I am” defines a person.[/ictt-tweet-inline] He knew succinctly who he was. We should too. And I am not talking about titles here, I am talking about function. I cannot say that, “I am a Life Coach”…that is a title, not a function. Read more about this here

2. He got Prepared for His Assignment

For 30 years, the man was obscure at every sense of the word. We hear nothing about him apart from one instant when he was 12. And then all of a sudden, he appears on the scene, and departs 3 years later. More than 2000 years later and billions of souls changed. He was thoroughly prepared for His assignment. That is what you and I must be doing today. [ictt-tweet-inline]If we are not yet at it, at least let’s be preparing for it.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

3. He would not be Distracted From His Assignment

He called his best friend a “Devil” because he was dissuading him from His assignment. He was hawkish about it. And you would not find him doing anything other than His assignment. If He went anywhere and they did not accept him, he would leave, but he would keep at His Assignment!

4. He was Particular about the Timing of His Assignment

Timing was everything. He just could not die before his time. He delayed to go see his sickly friend who died. They told him He came late, He said He was not. Then He raised His friend from death! What a man. Timing is everything.

5. He Knew Whom He had been Sent to

He refrained from going to the “Gentiles”. He called such a one a “dog”. He clearly knew who His audience was. I think this is the make or break for all of us. Whom have you been sent to deliver? Find out more about that here.

6. He Knew His Villain

Most importantly, He knew the one person that he was sent to destroy. He was not fighting everyone. The same applies to us. We have not been anointed to deliver everybody. Neither have we been anointed to fight everybody. There are some battles that are not worth your time!

He was not the Only One who said it

You and I must follow these steps so that we can be prepared well enough. Jesus was not the only one to have finished His assignment.

• We have Jacob. His death is funny. He called his kids, blessed them (and by the way, all he spoke over them happened—fathers learn this), then he “gathered his legs on to the bed” and died. Mission accomplished.
• Elijah knew he would be taken to heaven.
• Moses walked to his funeral!!! He had accomplished his mission. He might not have said the words, “It is finished”, but we all know it was.
• Apostle Paul said these powerful statement, “I have run my race, I have finished my fight”.
• Few years ago, Kenneth E. Hagin was heard to tell a congregation where he was speaking, “I have already done everything assigned to me by God, and I am ready to go”. Few weeks or months later, he was gone, peacefully, Mission having been accomplished.

Let’s focus on knowing what our assignment is. Let us keep at it and not look back. That is the best way to go, “While at our Father’s business”