Awaiting the Lord’s Evaluation
“This is one of the largest funerals we had in all the years!” This statement was made by the director of the funeral home as we made our way to the cemetery. What a fitting tribute to our brother Yocum! Many believers came to pay their respects and a number of unconverted attended, including representatives from the oil industry where Jack worked before his call to the Lord’s work.
Several circumstances before Jack’s conversion seemed to indicate that the Lord was dealing in his life. Soon after receiving Christ, Jack’s desires, ambitions, and energies shifted to spiritual and eternal realities (Acts 9:6). Brother Jack was received into fellowship in 1960 and immediately developed an interest in open-air work. He was a personal worker and, like his Lord, began both to do and to teach (Acts 1:1). His personal care to those in need enhanced the gospel of Christ. His record is on high (Job 16:19). Brother Yocum was one of over thirty preaching partners with whom I shared in the work over the years. He was unassuming, inconspicuous, and never sought place. A true evaluation of a man and his work now seems premature and incomplete (I Cor 4:5) and must wait until Christ’s Judgment Seat. In that day, my true yokefellow, we shall meet again in a land where none of the inhabitants will say, “I am sick” (Isa 33:24).
