September 16, 2024 Devo

September 16th, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
The Story of Lazarus (John 11)
Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” – John 11:23-24 (NLT)
“Hope That Holds Onto You”

I did a funeral this past weekend for a man who passed away after an extended illness. As I was visiting with his wife in the lobby before the service, she said to me, “You know, I don’t know how people without God do this.” I agree.
Everybody dies. Good people, bad people, all people. But there is a significant difference with those who are believers. HOPE. Hope for the deceased that death is not the end. Hope that there is a place beyond this world where there is no more pain, no more tears, no more sorrow, and no more death. Hope that this life will give way to a better life. An eternal life. A life with Jesus.
That’s the hope that Martha expresses in our passage today. “He will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Read that statement again. That’s more than a truth. It’s a foundation to stand on. It’s a comforting belief that wraps around us. It’s a rope of hope that we hold onto. That’s why Paul says that we Christians don’t grieve like the rest of the world. We grieve with a knowledge that makes all our sorrow bearable. We WILL see them again.
How important is this truth? Incredibly important. Yes, Jesus shocks both Martha and Mary by doing the unbelievable. He brings back Lazarus from the dead. It was an AMAZING gift for which they were thankful beyond words. But think about this. Sometime later Lazarus WILL die again! Even though Jesus brought him back from the grave, Lazarus will eventually return to the grave again. But that same hope that kept their hearts strong when Lazarus died the first time would sustain them when Lazarus dies again. Because their hope was not that their brother would stay in this world forever. Their hope was in knowing they would join him in another world one day.
Today, I pray that you have hope in something that is beyond this world. A hope that is stronger than difficulty, stronger than disease, even stronger than death. Many people in this world only hope in something that they can hold in their hands. My prayer is that you find the hope that Martha had. A hope that holds onto YOU! That’s God’s Word for you today.