Recently, a simple question asked by a pastor got some people to thinking.  Churches across the country began to preach series’ based on the book (that sold millions) based on this one idea.  The book went to #1 on the NY TIMES bestseller list.

What if you only had one month to live?

How would you treat people?  Spend your money?  Talk to your children?  It is indeed a good question to make us stop and take notice of how we order the steps of our days.  But just like most trends in Christianity (or trends in general), it lasted for a season and people largely returned to life as usual, though hopefully with a renewed sense to make some lasting changes and to live more deliberately.

This week at Crossroads, I had the opportunity to hear about a young man who had EXACTLY one year to live.  This was not a book title or a sermon series, but an actual human being who had a finite number of days left on this earth.  You might be inspired by how he lived his last year with us.

July 4, 2007.  One year ago.  Thomas Bayham was a 17 year old rising senior from Loranger, LA.  He was at Crossroads summer camp with his youth group.  The very first night of camp, Thomas felt the Holy Spirit drawing him to salvation, so he stood to his feet and publicly confessed his sin and trusted in Christ as his savior and Lord.  Three nights later, July 7, Thomas Bayham stood to his feet to surrender his life to ministry.  He felt like God had a specific purpose for his life and he wanted to preach the gospel.  He was saved and called into the ministry the same week.

July 4, 2008.  One year later.  Thomas Bayham was an 18 year old teenager who had spent the last 10 months in and out of the hospital with a rare disease that finally took his life.  He died exactly one year from the day he gave his life to Jesus.  And he really did give his life to Jesus, and to ministry, because he did more with his faith in one year than many of us will do in a lifetime.

When he returned to LA from Crossroads, he was on the football team, living life like a teenager, taking a bold stand on is team and at his school for Christ.  When he got sick, he told people that he trusted God and God would work things out.  He told his team about Christ, he testified to all his friends about his salvation.  One night at his youth group at church, he took off his football jersey and laid it in the middle of the floor.  He told all the students there that his jersey made him part of a team, and they were a team for Christ that needed to work together to see all their friends saved.  He was so radically changed by Jesus that even after losing dozens of pounds and going in and out of consciousness, he shared the gospel with his nurse and led her to faith in Christ before he died, right beside his hospital bed.

Thomas Bayham was buried this past week.  And everyone that knew Thomas knew that his last year on earth was different.  He lived the gospel, he lived the change.  And he is with Christ now while we still get the honor of living the difference here in this world.

One year was all he had.  He did not waste a minute of it.  May the same be said of me, and of you.

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