Why Do You Seek The Living Among The Dead?

The women came to the tomb bringing spices for Christ were confronted by angels who asked, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5). They came to see a dead Christ not a living, resurrected Savior even though He told them He would rise from the dead.

How often do we find ourselves returning to the grave of ruined things and places in our lives? We find ourselves searching for something we can't quite understand that might give us some hope of a better life. Yes, we know the Scripture tells us that all things - bad and good - work together as He purposes but our expectation is very much the same. How can anything good come out of this mess?

We think of the wasted and lost years spent foolishly on selfish pursuits. Those precious moments like sand slipped through our finger tips. In its wake are broken relationships that seem beyond repair, even redemption. The consequences for our selfish and sinful choices left much of our lives in a smoldering ruin of decay and rubble.

Beloved, the question the angels asked is one that God ask us today. Why are you going back and rooting among the ruin of your past looking for some resemblance of a life you wanted? God brought down Jericho, a type of stronghold, when the Israelites entered the Promise Land. He warned them not to take anything from Jericho but one man disobeyed. Israel was defeated when trying to capture another city. In the end, the man and his family along with his possessions were destroyed. When we are fixated by the past, the luster of fool's gold will only lead to death.

When we first repented and confess, His blood blotted out our sins. It's under the blood! Don't recall or root among the ruins! I'll say it again. It's under the blood! He does not remember them. God does not live in a grave yard of sinful dead man or woman's bones. We are new creatures in Christ quickened and brought from death into life. So why would the living seek life among those things that are dead?

Beloved, the enemy will use every means to have you reconsider the past as something that was not that bad (compared to what?) and something to be desired. He wants to keep your expectations low and narrow that a full resurrected life is beyond your reach. To this we can say to every wicked power what Christ said to a dead man who heard his name being called: "Lazarus come forth!" (Luke 11:43). God calls us out of the grave and into abundant life.

Listen and move toward Him.

Don't look or go back (Luke 17:32).