My 6-year-old son was outside riding his bicycle. I was in the kitchen when he came running to me with a cut under his left eye. As blood oozed, my frightened child cried out, “I want to live! I want to live! I want to live!”
He wasn’t merely frightened by the blood, he was terrified that he was going to die. And while his reaction might seem extreme, a glance at his past explains his fear.
Before he came to live with me, my son had felt the “sting” of death multiple times. When he was just 18 months old, his twin brother died. At age 4, he lost his mother and father when they died of AIDS. Seven of his nine aunts and uncles, living in the same village, also died during the first 5 years of his life. In his impoverished community, more people were dying of disease than surviving. So it’s understandable that my son thought death was encroaching on him as well.
No one wants to die young. When death taunted King David, he pleaded with God to spare him. “He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days,” David recalled. “But I cried to Him, ‘O my God, who lives forever, don’t take my life while I am so young!’” (Psalm 102:23-25). In response, God continued to protect and preserve his life. As Samuel declared, He is sovereign over both life and death.
Because of sin, “all creation was subjected to God’s curse [death]” (Romans 8:20). The good news is that Jesus Christ gives us victory over death. Through Him we can take heart that nothing, not even “death . . . fears . . . worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38-39). We can rest in His sovereign hands.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Acts 6:1-15
More:
List each trial that Romans 8:34-37 states cannot separate you from the love of God.
Next:
What promises in God’s Word give you confidence that Jesus has given you victory over death? Why do you want to live?
sowharvest on October 15, 2011 at 5:16 pm
With all that besets us.. We all want to sometime wave the white flag and cry “UNCLE”. Yet, the Spirit of GOD that lives and reigns in me will not let me do it. Why?.. I asked the Lord GOD this very question today? And it was your devo that provided the proper response to Why? Because it is GOD that ‘ killeth and maketh it alive”. Amen. Praise b to GOD.
I also notice Roxanne that the negative was ALWAYS followed by the POSITIVE. In that GOD sees our conditions our fralities and wants us to understand from “killeth[death] HE can and will bring “alive”[life]… from “maketh poor[despair and without or lacking] HE can and will “maketh rich”[joyous and abundant]. Thank you for your timely message and GOD be with you.
winn collier on October 19, 2011 at 5:07 pm
what a powerful story. and what a powerful promise of life.