This past Thursday. February 19th Wes Rucker, 43, got up and got ready for work. He more than likely spent some time with his wife, Lauren and son Hank. His wife is due to give birth to their daughter this spring. He went to work and spoke about his transparency on his sports show that afternoon. He got in his car and was traveling west in I-40 near Knoxville, TN about 4:58 pm when he came upon a fender bender in one of the lanes. Wes stopped, becoming the third car back. Suddenly, unable to stop in time, a large truck went over the top of his car killing him.
Wes was a sports journalist for the University of Tennessee for about 26 years. Even as a student at UT, he was already finding his love of covering UT sports. Wes Rucker was a normal guy, a dude, who was deeply loved by his wife, son and daughter still in his wife’s womb.
This article caught my eye because of the word “transparency” and the tragedy of his death. I am over the top transparent to others, and that is something I learned from men at Men’s Encounters. But let me get back to Wes. This man was deeply loved by his family, and he deeply loved them too. He was an amazing husband, father, son and more to his fans. The outpouring of love and respect for Wes continues to pour in. It has been a long time since I have read about someone I never knew or even heard of that, that was loved like this guy.
Wes Rucker impacted lives with his work in sports coverage. He lived and breathed University of Tennessee sports coverage. People wanted to meet him or maybe even be seated near him in the booth where he covered games. This man had a following and was deeply loved and now deeply missed by so many people. He must have been an amazing writer and speaker in sports. There is no telling how far his career could have taken him.
I tried to find any evidence of a walk with Christ. Surely someone loved this much must have been a Christian and was with Christ now. I searched over and over and I could not find one person who mentioned his faith in Christ. I kept searching, nothing. I wanted so bad to find evidence of his faith in Christ and I don’t even know him personally.
This tragic story has hit me hard on how fast life can end unexpectedly in a matter of seconds. It confirms we must always be ready to meet Jesus, face to face, during our next breath we take. We never know when our last breath will come and go.
The point I am making today is this. Wes Rucker had no idea last Thursday morning that he had only hours to live. When he left his family’s side, he had no idea he would never see them again. It was just another workday in Tennessee. He had plans for that day in his mind and plans for that evening possibly. Suddenly out of nowhere he entered eternity in seconds.
My brothers and sisters in Christ and even those of you reading this devotion, who may not know with certainty your final destination, please make sure you are 100% ready to enter eternity today. The bible speaks very clearly; we will all spend eternity in one of only two places. Don’t put this off for one more minute. I imagine this is what Wes Rucker would tell you if he could.
I truly hope Wes Rucker was saved by the grace of God at some point in his life and I hope I find that out someday. I will keep searching.
Jim Everett
