I read this fascinating story today (you can read it at http://www.livescience.com/61385-man-declared-dead-really-alive.html).
The story goes that a prisoner in Spain was found unconscious in his cell. Repeated attempts to resuscitate failed, he was transported to a hospital, and three different forensic doctors all declared him “dead.” As the article points out, a person is declared dead when one of two realities are present: the absence of a heart beat or the absence of brain activity. The article does not explain which of these two were present with this individual, but the assumption is that there was no discernible heartbeat.
So…he was prepped for an autopsy so that they could discover the cause of death. From head to he was marked with ink, to “guide” the mortician in the the autopsy examination. There was only one problem…just as the examiner was about to make his first cut, the man started snoring…he was asleep!!!!!! Imagine what that conversation is like…’You were about to cut me open!..We thought you were dead!!!…I wasn’t dead! Don’t you guys know how to tell the difference!”
After a few minutes of laughing, I thought to myself, “I wonder if this story isn’t descriptive of many Christians’ spiritual lives?” If a doctor examined your spiritual life…Are you concerned about the lost? Are you leading people to Christ? Are you spending time in God’s Word? Are you spending time in communion and prayer?…would he be able to find a heartbeat?
If your friends were to come and examine the body, would they find life? Would they see the fruits of the Spirit? Would they see the life that can only come through abiding in the vine of Christ? Or…would they assume the corpse was dead?
I’m afraid that many believers have fallen into such a deep slumber, that, if examined, they would be thought lifeless…
1 Peter 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Beloved, don’t be found snoring on the mortician’s slab…you’ve been given A LIVING HOPE.