June 28, 2018
Psalm 30:8-12…“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?” vs. 9
Resurrection was a foreign concept to the psalmist. He believed that those who died went to Sheol, the place of the dead, and that it was a place of darkness. He would have agreed with those who say, “When you’re dead, you’re dead. That’s it!” Yet in his words we also see a strong conviction that God is all about life–and many of us will agree. We cannot believe that the great Author of Life would allow death to have the last word. We have the sense that this thing we call life has persistence and cannot be obliterated. Of course we don’t know the shape or form of that continuing life, but we do not doubt its existence. In fact, belief in life beyond death is the central teaching of the Christian church. But even as we celebrate our faith in resurrection, the psalmist’s words resonate with us. He understood the value of life in this world and so do we. That’s why we tenaciously fight for life in the face of death. We seek cures for diseases and the end of famines; we want every person who has life in this world to enjoy it to the fullest. We can’t deny the reality of death but most of us would like to delay it as long as we can…and only then move on to the new life promised by Jesus.
Thought for the Day: When is it okay to let death have its way?
0 Comments