Today sad images flood my mind and flow in tears from my eyes. I have seen and heard too many tragedies, and they cannot be contained, controlled, corralled.
When our Saviour wept, who was it for? I suspect he wept for many reasons, and I conjecture that perhaps, it was for those that bore witness to Jesus calling Lazarus to come out from the grave, that would turn a blind eye to the significance of the event: which is that only God in heaven, and God incarnate, could and would and has, resurrected the dead.
God foreshadows, and men look away, favouring their own version of reality, based on this life, this fleeting and fading existence.
I wept yesterday for a sister that has slipped out of the body, her soul no longer residing in the clay God shaped to be uniquely her. I miss her terribly, and while she was a joyful playful type, she also suffered much, never feeling sorry for herself, never ever wanting pity. She was a private person, and didn't tell even her closest friends, what she experienced. She always cheerfully recovered and carried on, perennially interested in people, places, beautiful growing and plantable things. If she could have run wild with horses, that would have been her heaven on earth delight.
I pleaded with God for her soul before she died. What better place to go than heaven, when the thin invisible veil between the physical and spiritual realms, dissolves to allow passage? Unlike you and me, dear reader, Jesus knows. He knows who will be with him in paradise this very day, and who will not. He knows who will turn away from him for an eternity, and who will receive with gratitude, the gift of grace ... his unmerited favour.
Lazarus was counted as one of Jesus' friends. Can you image that? How marvellous, how wonderful! When Jesus commanded him, Lazarus complied:
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go (John 11:43)
We don't read more about Lazarus after this, because the message isn't about him, it is about the power of God, dear reader, what God is capable of because he has command over life, yours and mine, and over death too. Jesus conquered the grave, can you do that?
Jesus is called the man of sorrows. He came on a mission, not a pleasure trip for his own entertainment. He came to bring life to the dead and dying, and if you don't know him as your Saviour, you are counted as one of the numbers, one of the dead and dying, already bound hand and foot, your face bound too, with a napkin. What a sad state of affairs if this be so ... love longs to procure, and takes special care and effort to secure what it desires.
Jesus is love, dear one. He procures souls and with special care and effort, gives us every opportunity to come forth out of the tomb, shake off our graveclothes, and live for him, to glorify him, as the one that speaks truth and life.
Stop using God's name as a byword/in vain ... you make yourself foolish by doing so, and it hurts the ears of those who profess Jesus as our King. We don't like it one bit, it is vulgarity to the soul sensitive amongst you.
Lastly, weep, let the tears flow, for the sins you have committed, the ones your relatives, friends, co-workers, neighbours, strangers have committed. Weep, and plead with God for mercy and beg for forgiveness for you, for them. Give all your sorrow vent, let people see and hear it, so that perhaps they will be encouraged to repent too. Sin no more, dear one ... you know right from wrong, stop doing the wrong.
Today may be the day you meet your Maker: What, pray tell, do you anticipate? Will you walk away from the idea, the image, the question, as though it does not concern or pertain to you?
Death is a guarantee, dear one ... you and I just don't know the when part.
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