When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 10:43
Imagine if you were raised from the dead. What would it be like after being dead for 4 days, then walking out alive. You’d be sore and stiff, you’d stink to high heavens, you’re eyes would have to adjust to the light, you’d probably confused about what day it is…
Jesus said, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” How many of us still have the old grave clothes on? How many of us have been born again, but still walk around in the old cloak of Sin. Wearing the shirt of doubt, the singlet of cynicism, the jacket of fear, the jeans of greed, the underwear of anger, the boots of stubbornness, the grave clothes of the old man.
Corinthians says, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone the new has come.” We need to walk around with a new attitude, a new heart, and a new Spirit. The book of James says, “A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways.” We need a single minded resolve to get rid of the old grave clothes, to repent from our sins and burn those stinky clothes into oblivion. We need to be so passionate about repenting from our sins that we wear our new clothes with joy! That we dance and sing and rejoice for the old has gone and the new has come! The book of Isaiah says we are clothed with a cloak of zeal. Zeal means enthusiastic diligence. Often the first thing people notice about you is the clothes you’re wearing. Let’s let those new clothes be the first thing people see about us.
Lord thank you for raising me from the dead, and giving me a second chance. I want to live like a man raised from the dead, and make the most of all you’ve given me. Help me live like a new creation every day. Amen.