Hello all … here’s the scoop for our eighth week of Fall 2020.
Student Devotional – Camilla Mincey
From the story of Lazarus in John 11:1-44, the thing that struck me the most were verses 43&44 where Jesus commands Lazarus to come out of the tomb. John writes, “When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice,“Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth.” To contextualize this moment, there was a crowd around Jesus watching to see what was going to happen. Meanwhile, Martha’s main concern was the stench of the tomb when Jesus commanded the stone to be removed. In all of this chaos, Jesus suddenly yells at a dead man to wake up. Now, I don’t know about you, but if someone were to go to a graveyard and dig up a grave and yell at their relative to wake up, I might think they are a little crazy. But, Jesus’ power is even crazier. And the other astonishing thing is that Lazarus seems to hear Jesus, and he obeys. The call and response between Jesus and Lazarus was so precious to me in this story because Lazarus is dead, alone, and in a dark tomb. However, Jesus’ call raises him to life, and I think this is a beautiful picture of what happens when we accept Christ into our life and what should happen for us on a regular basis. The LORD cries out for us because he dearly loves us, just as Jesus loved Lazarus, and all we have to do is listen and accept. Then, we can be brought to life in the same way. Once we accept Jesus and “step out of our tomb” so to speak, we live in eternal life with him. And it doesn’t just stop there, he will continue to guide us and call out to us throughout our life through the Holy Spirit until one day we can join him and the father in heaven. What an awesome story! And this is exactly what the call to Lazarus made me think about: the beautiful picture of our new life when we say yes to Jesus.