Today's daily lesson is from Luke chapter 7 verses 12 and 15:
12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
There is a guy at my church who five or so years was as good as dead. His life had finally caught up with him and if you asked anybody who knew him or even knew of him they would have told you that the funeral procession was marching at full speed and the guy was already about three-quarters to the grave. Death had swallowed him up and both he and those who loved him were powerless to do anything about it.
Then there was an intervention. Someone -- you could say it was Jesus, or at least someone like him -- stepped onto the path and stopped the procession. They reached out their hand and touched the coffin, blocking it from its forward motion, and then they spoke words of life from a power even greater than death. "Arise," they said.
And he got up. And he was given back to his loved ones. In other words, he was brought back to life.
There are parents reading this this morning whose children are being marched by death unto the grave. They and you are powerless to do anything about it. What I want to say to you is I know that guy at my church. I know his story. His funeral procession was interrupted. He was brought back to life. He was given again to his mother. He is at my church; in fact there are about a dozen of him there. And so know that as close as your child is to the grave, they're not there yet. There is still time for intervention. There is still time for touch. There is still time to hear the words of life. There is still hope.
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