Dead and Didn't Know It!
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and all of us have something to be thankful about. If you are reading this article you should at least be thankful you are alive and can see. Sometimes, you are not thankful about something until you almost lose it, and then you become very grateful. Have you ever thought you were about to die? I have read stories about people who have had near death experiences and how many of them were drawn to a bright light. I have read about other experiences where people who were dying saw loved ones who had already passed away, waiting on their arrival. Still, I have read other stories where people have seen terrible sights that were waiting for them in the afterlife. In all the cases I have read about, the people who had these experiences changed the way they looked at life and how they lived life.
Even people who haven’t had a near death experience but have suffered a major illness generally have a change in the way they look at life. When people realize how brief life is, they will focus on the important things of life instead of worrying about the small details that can bog down the best of people. One of the biggest challenges I face everyday is to keep my focus on Jesus Christ and His plan for my life, and not my plan for my life! This is the challenge for every Christian to fulfill during their lifetime.
However, speaking of near death experiences, I had one just a few days ago and I didn’t even know it while it was taking place. There were no flashes of a great light, friends that had already passed away waving at me from another shore, or the smell of sulfur. This is how it happened. I went into a local drug store to make some purchases and noticed an electric blood pressure machine. All you have to do is sit down in the chair, slip your arm through a band that tightens up and after a few second it will show you your blood pressure and resting pulse.
I don’t like to brag, but I have always had a low resting pulse, around 50 beats a minute, and at times in the mid 40’s when I exercised on a regular basis. When the machine revealed my numbers, my pulse registered at “00!” Of course this meant my heart wasn’t beating at all, which meant I had surpassed my all lows for heart beats per minute, “38,” to my new record, “00”! For a split second I panicked as I told myself, “I’m dead and I don’t even know it!” Of course, I realized I wasn’t dead, so I pulled my arm out of the band and considered putting my arm back into the machine for a second opinion. “Why push my luck,” I told myself, as I stood up from my close encounter with death, completed my purchase, and left.
I realize that for the blood pressure machine to register “00” for my pulse, the machine had to be broken. However, for a few seconds after reading that small piece of information, I was waiting to collapse on the floor, leave time and enter eternity. That was not the way I was planning to spend my Saturday morning. However, I guess a person does not get to pick when and where he dies. The good news is that we can choose where we go when we die. Colossians 2:12-13 says, “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.”
When we trust in Christ as our Savior, we need not fear when death comes to us, because Jesus is Lord of both the living and the dead. He has prepared a place in Heaven for all who trust in Him. How about you? Don’t wait too late to turn to Jesus because you might be dead before you know it. Remember, don’t give in to sin. Think about it!
