During Session #4 of Bethel College's World Christian Action Conference, our speaker Connie Bissen referenced a verse in John 11 when Jesus called Lazarus up and out of his tomb.  While I failed to grasp the direction that Connie took this passage, I did spend a good deal of time reflecting on what implications it has for our lives as Believers.

"Then Jesus shouted, 'Lazarus, come out!'  

And the dead man came out, his hands and

feet bound in graveclothes, his head wrapped

in a headcloth.  Jesus told them, 'Unwrap him

and let him go!'"  (John 11:43-44; NLT)

While driving back from the airport this morning, I listened to a pastor on the radio speak very frankly about being "born twice."  I don't know his name, nor do I know his church, but I loved how simple he made it:

"You're either born once or born twice.

Born once, you're blind.  Born twice, you can see.

Born once, you're lost.  Born twice, you're found.

Born once, you belong to the Devil.  Born twice, you belong to God.

Born once, you're dead.  Born twice, you're alive."

As simple as this equation is, I know many of us struggle with what happens in our lives once we are "born twice."  You see, like Lazarus we experience death to ourselves and receive resurrection through Christ.  Too often though, we take off into our lives as newfound children still wearing the cloths we donned in the grave.  We walk around our world as mummies, experiencing life, but we reak of our lives past.  We do not allow the Lord to purge us of all our sinful nature and the things that tempt us backwards.

This is why Paul writes to the church in Colossae:

"...put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking

within you...You used to do these things when

your life was still part of this world...Put on your

new nature, and be renewed as you learn to

know your Creator and become like him."  (Colossians 3:5,7,10; NLT)

So what are some of the cloths draping your body that have been with you since the grave?  Do they exist in the form of relationships or circles of friends?  Are they items or substances that, at one point, you couldn't live without?  Are they possibly things that look very nice and ornate, things that look great in your second life, but things that God has called you to leave behind?  

Lord, give us the strength to rid ourselves of these bindings.  If we should lack the strength, give us the humility to ask others to unwrap us, so we may go.  Thank you for this life eternal, for overcoming death, that we may have life.

Humbly His,

Bobby Morton