The Obituary Notice

I was living in South Korea when I received an obituary notice in the mail from my brother —about himself. It had his date of birth and the date of his death— which happened to be the same except for the year.

My first thought was Herman must be losing it.

However, as I spoke to him about it, I learned he actually died on the date he had in his obituary because he had a massive stroke that day and was never the same again. While he was in an unconscious state during recovery, he had a dream that he was living on borrowed time and God was giving him extra time to get his life together —and that he did. You see, before his stroke, he lived only for work and pleasing his family; therefore, he had no time for spiritual matters. But now, after his ordeal bringing him so close to death and then his dream, he was a new person, living to gain all the knowledge he could about our Savior. Jesus is returning to this earth someday very soon for a church whose character is similar to His. Therefore, we should be growing daily like Him.

God gave my brother nine additional years after surviving that massive stroke in 2004 on his birthday. He was never the same again, and in reality, he died that day to be raised a new creature, learning, living, loving, and growing in our Father which art in heaven. Those around him saw the change. Isn’t this the way our lives should be? Shouldn’t others see a change in us that will draw them to the person we are modeling? Let us be like Naaman, who came up out of the Jordan River completely and obviously changed. Lord, please help us live the fruit of Your Spirit so that it will be evidence of You living in us. Let our lives become contagious and draw all men unto You.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and help us to be ready!

Bessie Russell Haynes