The Bible says:
“And another of his disciples said unto him, ‘Lord, suffer (let) me first to go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said unto him, ‘follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.’” — Matthew 8: 22
Death means separation. We are born spiritually dead in trespasses and sin, (Ephesians 2: 1) and are thereby separated and alienated from a thrice-holy God. We will die physically.
“The living know that they shall die.”
— Ecclesiastes 9: 5
When our mortal body dies our spirit leaves the body to go to another condition of existence in either Heaven or Hell, determined by what we did with Jesus Christ; whether we accepted Him as our Savior or rejected Him. Physical death is our spirit separation from our body our family and friends here on earth but will mean being reunited with others in Heaven.
There are the spiritually dead who are living a life of separation from God. Then there are the dead bodies that remain of those who are still alive in the afterlife. In our text we have two types of dead people and one is burying the other.
The disciple wanted to put off following Christ until he had buried his father. But the disciple was spiritually alive and knew the gospel and needed to be out sharing it to those that were dead in trespasses and sin that through faith in Jesus could be made alive in Christ.
(Ephesians 2: 1, 5)
There were plenty of spiritually dead people, even among his own siblings, that could dig a grave and bury the body of his dead father.
The point being made is that there is really no excuse for not following Jesus. We must not postpone our commitment and devotion to Jesus as we think of all the events we will miss if we surrender and follow Him.
Believe it or not, there are plenty of spiritually dead people who will make sure those events are pulled off without a hitch. And we can be sure that in our absence God will use our commitment, faithfulness, devotion and sacrifice to Him and His work to work on the hearts of those back home.
Have you put everything in the hands of the dead so you can follow and live for Jesus? Do you take up your cross daily to follow Jesus?
James H. Cagle is a Ray City resident who pastored several churches for a total of 11 years. Email him at [email protected]
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