ODJ: i want to live
October 15, 2011
The Lord gives both death and life (v.6).
READ: 1 Samuel 2:6-10
My 6-year-old son, Wasswa, was outside riding his bicycle. I was in the kitchen when he came running to me with a cut under his left eye. As blood oozed, my scared child cried out, “I want to live! I want to live! I want to live!”
Wasswa wasn’t merely frightened by the blood, he was terrified that he was going to die. And while his reaction might seem extreme, a glance at his past explains his fear.
Before he came to live with me, Wasswa had felt the “sting” of death multiple times. When he was just 18 months old, his twin brother died. At age 4, he lost his mother and father when they died of AIDS. Seven of Wasswa’s nine aunts and uncles, living in the same village, also died during the first 5 years of his life. In his impoverished community, more people were dying of disease than surviving. So it’s understandable that Wasswa thought death was encroaching on him as well.
No one wants to die young. When death taunted King David, he pleaded with God to spare him. “He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days,” David recalled. “But I cried to Him, ‘O my God, who lives forever, don’t take my life while I am so young!’” (Psalm 102:23-25). In response, God continued to protect and preserve his life. As Samuel declared, He is sovereign over both life and death.
Because of sin, “all creation was subjected to God’s curse [death]” (Romans 8:20). The good news is that Jesus Christ gives us victory over death. Through Him we can take heart that nothing, not even “death . . . fears . . . worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38-39). We can rest in His sovereign hands. —Roxanne Robbins
What promises in God’s Word give you confidence that Jesus has given you victory over death? Why do you want to live?
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