By Lyndsay Hudgens
Spring is in the air. Snow is hopefully in our rearview mirror for the year, and everything is coming back to life. In every bloom, in every awakening from hibernation, God is telling His redemption story—He brings dead things back to life.
In John 11, one of Jesus’ dear friends, Lazarus, passes away. When Jesus arrives on the scene, Lazarus has been dead for four days. His family and friends are mourning. Jesus Himself weeps over the sting of death that everyone is feeling. And then, in the midst of the mourning, in the midst of the pain and the stench of death, Jesus calls to Lazarus, “Come forth!” And Lazarus walks out of the grave.
We all know the ache of death—we see it in the world around us and feel the looming unknown of when it might catch us. Because the truth is that it will. In fact, even now, without Jesus, our souls are dead. Our bodies may breathe, but our souls have been suffocated by sin. Romans 6 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Through His sacrifice on the cross, the punishment for our sin has been paid; and through His resurrection from the dead, our souls can have eternal life. We can have hope in the unknown. We can have peace about our eternity.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Just as Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, He’s calling to you today to “come forth” out of the death of your sin and into new life with Him.
Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Do you believe this? Call on Jesus today and let Him bring you back to life.
