Death and Life Combined

I looked about this morning in total amazement at the wonders of this world. Birds are chirping and busy finishing nests to the specifications of the one who will lay eggs and sit in the nest protecting her offspring. Squirrels are busy running around doing what squirrels do. Bees are buzzing around any flower they can find and are busy pollinating my neighbors’ vegetable garden. I curiously traced an ant trail for about twenty-five feet, looking like a crowded rush hour freeway with hundreds of ants traveling both ways, not finding a beginning or final destination point. I’ve noticed small holes dug in my yard, the evidence a possum has left behind digging for grubs and whatever else they dig up for food. I know one thing for sure. They will all be desperately looking for water before long. It hasn’t rained enough to talk about in this area for more than eight or nine months, yet the grass is growing and the trees have redressed themselves with leaves. Unfortunately, we all know what’s coming in the not too distant future, summer. With burn bands and water restrictions already in place, without rain, and a lot of it soon, things are fixin’ to dry up and wilt. The wildlife is also going to suffer. Chlorinated city water just can’t do the job properly. Pray for rain. Then pray again. I don’t want those pesky ants in my house looking for water.
The minister asked the little girl, “Do you know what’s in the Bible?” “Yes”, she responded. “I think I know everything that is in it.” Surprised, the minister said, “That’s a pretty big claim for someone your size. Go ahead and tell me.” The little girl started out, “Well… let’s see… there’s a picture of my brother’s girlfriend, a ticket from the dry cleaners, one of my curls and a Pizza Hut coupon.”
A four-year-old was at the pediatrician for a check-up. As the doctor looked in her ear he asked, “Do you think I’ll find Big Bird in here?” The little girl stayed silent. Next the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat. “Do you think I’ll find the Cookie Monster down here?” Again the little girl was silent. Then the doctor put the stethoscope on her chest. As he listened to her heartbeat he asked, “Do you think I’ll hear Barney in here?” “Oh no!” the girl replied. “That will never happen! Jesus is in my heart, Barney is on my socks!”
[1 Corinthians 15: 50-58] Do you truly know what’s in the Bible? Is Jesus in your heart? Does your hope rest in the resurrection or are you afraid of death? Jesus went to the cross to fulfill God’s will to redeem man from his sins. In the garden, as he prayed, Jesus asked if it were possible there be another way, but he also knew, for the new covenant of reconciliation for man and God to be enforced, a blood sacrifice had to be made. Jesus was that sacrifice. His love for you and I brought forth death and life at the same time. Jesus’ blood washed away the sins of the world and His resurrection to life has opened the way for sinners to be with God forever. I, like Jesus, don’t especially look forward to my time of death, but I’m not afraid, for He has proven to me there’s more to come. My hope of glory rests in His resurrection. Like the farmer, who plants dead seed, and patiently waits for the soil to yield it’s valuable crop (James 5:7), I rest in the fact that I have died to sin, through baptism, and patiently await the coming of my Lord when I will be clothed with immortality to live with God eternally. I pray you will thirst after righteousness and seek God before it is everlastingly too late. (James 3)