Ephesians 2:1 – Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. (NLT)

Dead people don't move … or do they? I've also heard that dead people don't tell tales. But maybe they do. Because of my upbringing and my profession, I've seen more than my share of dead people. As a pastor, my father performed numerous funerals. When I followed in his footsteps, I did, as well. There was the elderly lady sitting in her recliner and enjoying life when death overtook her. There was a small child who was killed because his mother was driving drunk and wrecked her car. I recall the 99-year-old woman who had the privilege of seeing some of the first airplanes and cars. My own father stopped breathing in an Atlanta hospital. None of these moved after they breathed their last. They never got back up off the bed or chair and moved around. They were dead. As badly as I wanted to talk to them again, their lips never moved, and their voices remained silent.

I'm also familiar with another type of death. These dead people do walk and tell tales. I see and hear them every day. I've worked with them, attended church with them, and belonged to community organizations with them. I even have some of them in my family. In fact, I'm one myself. We are the walking dead … the talking dead.

Physical death and spiritual death are both realities. Physical death ends my earthly existence, but I can live for many years while spiritually dead. What kills me spiritually is my disobedience to God, and the reason that I disobey is because of my sin nature. I'm born with it, and unless I allow God to give me a new one, I'll live and die with it. If I die with it, I'll miss eternity with God.

The good news is that I don't have to be a dead man walking. New natures are available — natures that God has breathed life into. I can be a live man walking: alive to spiritual things; alive to God and His plan for my life; alive to the abundance that He offers. All that He requires is that I ask. Jesus died physically to give me life spiritually.

Why walk around dead in your sins when you can enjoy the freedom of forgiveness?

Prayer: Father, thank You for giving us the possibility to live life truly alive. Amen.

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About the author:

Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
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