My brothers, sisters and I often spent our weekend afternoons hiking through our woods or following the creek that ran through the properties near us. This fall afternoon was no exception. We decided to meet two cousins of ours at a certain place and hike together along the creek and then hunt for crayfish. The five of us had no idea what would happen that afternoon.
We were having a good time splashing around in the creek near some culverts and lifting rocks to see what was living under them. We hollered into the culverts just to hear our voices echo. These culverts had just been put in so a new road could be built over the creek.
My brother and I wandered out of the water and away from the rest of the group. All of a sudden we came to a hole in the ground with what looked like a stuffed figure lying down holding a shovel. I kicked at the shovel. We both thought the stuffed figure must have toppled over from where it had been propped up, probably to scare off trespassers. We knew there had been trouble with trespassers coming in and destroying property and partying in the vacant, old, crumbling farmhouses on the hill. We called back to the others and told them to come and see what we had found.
My cousin Merle no sooner took a look than he yelled, “That’s no stuffed figure! That’s Herman Thiel!”
I was so scared that my legs felt like jelly as we all took off running as fast as we could. We ran up to the main road, and my brothers and I ran to our home, and our cousins ran to their home. Their dad was a volunteer fireman and knew what to do. He immediately called the police and then went to the place where we had found Herman. He quickly realized that there was nothing he could do for Herman. Herman was dead.
It was such a solemn experience for us children to come face to face with death. We later learned that just that morning his daughter had taken him shopping. Then that afternoon Herman had been busy digging post holes for a new fence he intended to put in. But one of those post holes became his temporary grave after he had a massive heart attack.
Herman had been preparing for the future. A new road was to be put in, the land would be divided up and sold. Herman was planning to make quite a nice profit for himself. How often we prepare for the future of our earthly lives, but what about preparing for after death? The Bible reminds us how short life is: “Your life . . . is . . . a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:1414Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14). It also tells us to “prepare to meet thy God.” Amos 4:1212Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. (Amos 4:12). We need to prepare for our eternal future. We don’t know if Herman prepared for his eternal future, and so we don’t know where his soul is now -with Jesus, or suffering in that awful place called hell. Where would yours be?
God has made a way possible to spend eternity with Him. All we have to do is accept His offer of salvation to be sure of that wonderful eternal future. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
ML-05/08/1994