Devotion:
Read John 11:17-26.
We have saved this “I Am” statement of Jesus to be our last in this sermon series. It is the one that most connects with the focus of this Gospel: life. In a scene where everyone is focused on death, Jesus let’s everyone know that he is “the resurrection and the life.” He is the source of life. And anytime we feel like our life has ended in any way, he is the source of new life.
Sometimes in life, we can have that feeling that life as we knew it has ended. Maybe it was the death of somebody close to you. Maybe it was losing a job. Maybe it was experiencing the pain of divorce. It could have been your best friend betraying you. There are all kinds of ways to experience that feeling of life ending and wondering how to go on.
The resurrection that Jesus speaks of certainly includes a promise of being given a new body sometime after our present body stops functioning, in which we live for eternity. But it is also about a way of living life in this body in this world. It is a belief that no matter what happens in life that causes us to think life has ended, Jesus Christ offers new life. He guides us in how to live again, to experience life in a whole new way. So when you have something happen in your life that causes you to wonder how you can go on, remember that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life!”
Personal Worship Option:
Reflect on these words (and/or sing them) from the song by Bill and Gloria Gaither:
Because he lives, I can face tomorrow; because he lives, all fear is gone;
because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment