Day 127 - Surrounded By the Dead

Do you realize most people who surround you and cross paths with you each day are already dead as a result of sin?  Not only that, but the only thing they have to look forward to is the just, holy, fierce warth of a God whose goodness is so pure that the least bit of sin and evil, the "whitest" of lies, is completely incinerated by it, as the sun incinerates anything that ventures too close to it.  Those of us who have repented, turned to the Savior, and are clinging to him tightly by faith and seeking to follow him daily were likewise condemned.

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:1-10)."

The gruesome thought of the fate of the living dead all around us should move us with compassion to do something, to say something, to share the Word of Life.  After AWANA tonight, I stopped at a convenience store to get the kids a small reward for their hard work.  I pulled out a handful of million dollar bills and asked the other customers if they wanted a million dollars!  That got their attention, as I flashed the bills around to them and started passing them out.  They wanted them!  They knew they weren't real, of course, but they were having fun with it.

I then explained to the group that they were gospel tracts and had the million dollar question on the back--where will you go when you die?  I quickly shared that God had made a way for them to know for sure their eternal destiny will be heaven and urged them to read the back of the tracts before it's too late.  I pray the seeds sown fell on good ground and that someone passed from death to life tonight.  If not tonight, maybe they will do so soon.