My son sleeps like a rock. Seriously, when that boy is asleep, we can pretty much do whatever we want, because he’s not waking up! He is dead to the world. Sometimes in the mornings, when he finally arises, we joke, “He’s alive! He’s alive!”
But one morning last week, he wasn’t the only one who slept like a rock. The night before I had taken a Tylenol p.m., and it worked. When the alarm went off at 5 a.m., just like it does every school day, I turned it off. I’ll just lay back down for a few minutes, I told myself.
Next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. 7:03 a.m.
Now, you can just imagine the thoughts that went through my head, and they weren’t the uplifting, positive kinds of thoughts I can repeat to you.
Ahem.
I flew through the house, hollering at my kids, telling them we needed to be IN THE CAR IN FIVE MINUTES. Okay, so we actually had ten minutes, but they didn’t need to know that. I threw on some clothes, hoping that my shoes matched, ran a comb through my hair and tried to fluff it up as best I could. I brushed my teeth, then grabbed my purse and my make-up kit. I raced through the kitchen, grabbed the entire box of Pop Tarts, and yelled, “IN THE CAR! NOW!”
Not one of my prouder moments, to say the least. But somehow, I got everyone to their destinations on time, shoes on their feet and Pop-Tarts in their bellies. But all that day, I still felt a little like a zombie. I was dead on my feet, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl back in that bed and sleep some more.
Did you know that God says we’re all a little like zombies? Spiritual zombies, anyway. According to the Bible, we were dead, but now . . . drum roll please.
Friends, God loves us. He has wonderful plans for each of us to live rich and abundant lives, in Him. The lives we live without Him are so far below God’s standard for living, that it isn’t really living at all. Without Him, we might as well be dead. But because God loves us so very much, He made a way for us to experience life. Real, abundant, peaceful, joyful life.
And it gets even better than that. God doesn’t wait for us to be good enough for this great gift. He didn’t say, “When you reach a certain level of goodness, I’ll give you abundant life.” Rather, while we were dead in our sins, God made us alive. And all we have to do to experience this life is believe He is who He says He is.
Whew! That is some good preaching.
But it gets even better still! The Bible says we are alive with Christ! Now, at some places in scripture, we are said to be alive in Christ. But Paul specifically uses the word with. We are alive with Christ, who will never leave us, never forsake us, never abandon us. We are alive with Christ, who will rejoice with us in the best of times and stay with us in the worst of times. In Christ, we have a friend above all friends. We have someone who loves us more than life itself, and who will never disappoint us.
And He invites you right now, this very minute, to wake up and start living.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved,” Ephesians 2:4 – 5.
Renae,
Good Friday is a good time to reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice for us. It is hard to imagine how much He loves us and what He did for our salvation.
I know, Lilly. He was alive, and I was dead. But he died, so that I could live. And then, praise God, He conquered death – something only HE could do, so He lives too!
If I had had to pay the price for my own sins (the wages of sin is death), I would have experienced eternal death. So, out of His great love for us, He paid our wages for us. He was the only One who could afford such a high, painful price. I am so sad that I earned that wage, and so overwhelmed/grateful that He loved me enough to take care of the bill.