Please Let Me Introduce You to Rimon!

If you follow my daily FB posts or my blog, you’ll remember my Holy Lands' daily log of awe-inspiring, faith-filled experiences that I and my fellow travelers savored from the moment we landed at the Israel Ben Gurion Airport. The reason, was in large part because of our tour guide, Rimon. If you were planning this trip of a lifetime that would ensure you of a greater depth of love for Jesus Christ and one that would take your Bible readings to a whole new level of appreciation, I would have urged you to choose Rimon as your Tour Guide.

Rimon was Jerusalem-born-and-raised and seemed to speak a dozen languages because no matter who we encountered along the way, he'd speak fluently with them. Rimon opened our eyes and hearts to the places where Jesus lived, healed, forgave, transformed, raised the dead, set captives free, suffered, died, was buried and rose to heaven. Rimon knew and loved his land AND the Bible. He quoted so many scriptures and let the Bible unfold as we saw places we had only read and heard about. Rimon really was a "living stone" among the ancient stones of the land, as an ambassador of the land, its people, culture, religious traditions, their history, and their suffering and hopes. Born on the Mt of Olives, he lived in Jerusalem all his life. His father is buried on Mt Zion. His grandfather’s tomb is in the Garden of Gethsemane. As a child, Rimon was fascinated by tour guides. He'd follow tourists inside the church and offered to guide them. So, in the holiest place of Christianity, his "ministry" as a Christian tour guide took off.

How can you spend only a few days of your life with someone and be impacted in such a way that your life would be forever changed? Rimon shined so brightly as a reflection of our Lord’s light and that light penetrated into our souls and we knew that those few days together were but a foretaste of the joys that await us when we gather together in heaven.

I'm sure many would like to have Rimon's info so you can find out about his next tour. You will have to wait in line with patience as a loving, joyful, fully devoted follower of Christ, because the line you’ll be waiting in is the one in which you'll get the ultimate “Grand Tour” of heaven. I, and my fellow travelers and thousands of others, were shocked when we received word on Monday that Rimon had a fatal heart attack on Monday. No doubt he received a “Fast Pass” to heaven. I could hardly believe that this beautiful servant of Christ could have left us so soon. In June, when a group of Texans, a few Arkansans and Oklahomans traveled to Jerusalem, it was Rimon that met us. From the moment we met him, we knew he wasn’t a typical tour guide, simply doing his “tour guide” job. It really was his ministry to represent Christ’s homeland on this earth, and, what an extraordinary representative he was.

The question is “What will we be remembered for? What will we leave our heirs and those who know us? Lately, there have been many well-known celebrities who passed away and great accolades were given for their talents and success stories I can't imagine that any of those people could top beautiful people like Rimon whose lives and stories of great faith, character and service impacted us for eternity. More than the tangible inheritances, our good character is creating a legacy that will continue to speak long after our life on this earth has ended. "Unquestionable character" is one of the greatest gifts we can leave for others....and that comes as we embrace the character of our Father God.

Charles Spurgeon said, “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts – not on marble.” Rimon carved his name on our hearts – he will be remembered as one who loved the Lord with all his heart, soul and mind – and we’ll never be the same because we took a little "heavenly" journey with him on this earth. We'll see you later, Rimon! RIP!