Salvation In Real Life
“And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” John 11:43
This past weekend I had the privilege of going to Family Weekend at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. My oldest daughter, Mattie, is a sophomore there. This year was a special Family Weekend as it is also Union University’s 200th Anniversary this year. There was a lot of family related activities on Saturday such as rides, games, snacks, fireworks, and a concert put on by Crowder.
It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the concert. There were parts that were a little heavy in regards to music style but overall I enjoyed the show that Crowder put on. I like a lot of Crowder’s songs. One such song was titled “Glorious Day”. I am not sure why this particular song struck such a chord with me as compared to some of the other songs, but it did. Here are the lyrics:
“I was buried beneath my shame
Who could carry that kind of weight?
It was my tomb ‘Til I met You
I was breathing but not alive
All my failures I tried to hide
It was my tomb ‘Til I met You
You called my name and I ran out of that grave”
The song immediately brought to mind the scripture quoted above. There are a few times in the bible in which God illustrates salvation into our world and lives. He gives us, and the people involved at the time, a first hand look at salvation in real life. The resurrection of Lazarus is one of those times.
Jesus finds out that Lazarus is sick. Does He rush to heal him? Nope. In fact He waited two days before coming. He tells His disciples that it is to bring glory to God. When He finally does get there, Lazarus has died. Lazarus’ sisters tell Jesus that Lazarus would still be alive if He had gotten there sooner. They had faith that Jesus could have healed their brother. However, in their mind, death was final. That was the end. They believed in the final resurrection at the end of time, but for now their brother was gone. Jesus wanted to reveal His true power.
Jesus calls Lazarus to come out of the grave. That is exactly what God does for each of us when He saves us. You can substitute Lazarus’ name for your own. When God saves us, we are dead in our sins. He calls us out. Eternal life begins as soon as you accept the call of God. As a lost man, I was dead to God. But He saw fit to call me out of my own grave. Like the song said above, it was my tomb until I met God. Nobody else could call me out except for Jesus. He alone can save you. Jesus’ voice is the only one that Lazarus would hear. Jesus is the only way to God. His voice is the only one that can call you out of your grave. Not Buddha, not Mohammed, not the Pope, or anyone else. Only Jesus. If you are not a child of His, listen, He is calling your name. He is calling you out of your grave. Do like Lazarus, come running out to Jesus today.