Christian Living
Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday September 12, 2007
When I was a kid I recall watching movies about Zombies, The Living Dead. Spooky is being kind and this type of movie did scare the devil of me. I told mom that one day and she said, "Well, all of the devil did not leave so get back the movie." In later years I read that scientists have discovered a narcotic like plant that actually causes people to appear dead and then wake up, but in a semi catatonic state. Some folks in the West Indies used this technique to enslave people.
A form of this semi living state is mentioned by Albert Einstein in the following:
"The tragedy of a man is what dies within him while he is living."
The literature of our race is awash with tales of the aimlessness, the hopelessness of men and women who let their dreams die, of lives of wandering from place to place, person to person, and in the Christian world, church to church, trying to compensate for the loss of "what has died within while they are still breathing." Jesus talked about a church going through this "dead while alive" experience. The church at Sardis had a great reputation for something, but Jesus said in Revelation 3:1:
"And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
From the context we find the church while very busy had lost sight of God's mission, of the heart of compassion displayed by the Lord Christ, but rather walked about as a Zombie, controlled by an unnatural force, rather than the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.
A man or woman, a family or a church that has lost sight of God's purpose for its existence will always be a true tragic model of a blank, much noise, even a little smoke, but no real driving power.
Solomon dealt with this inner death when he wrote in Proverbs 29: 18:
"Where there is no vision, the people perish:"
Old versions and most commentators understand vision to be revelation, or prophecy, as with 1Samuel 3:1, an open vision. Vision as used biblically means: "Revelation of divine truth."
When a life becomes so callused for whatever reason that God's revelation for the race through His word and His revealed will for you individually is obscured, you begin to perish or to be plain for our day, "dry up." Rather than being 'plums' of God's amazing grace many Christians appear to be old dried up prunes.
"The tragedy of a man is what dies within him while he is living."
What grand vision used to move and burn in your heart and has now dried and shriveled and you are much like the "living dead" of old horror movies? God will revive the vision, His revelation for you when you turn to Christ and trade in broken dreams for restored ones. And start really living!
Larry Lilly Copyright © 2007 Use with credit.
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