Senior Living - July 9

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins … But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. --Ephesians 2:1, 4-5

The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is astounding for its simplicity and meaning. Etched carefully in the black granite wall are the names of 58,156 Americans who died in that gruesome war. And since its opening in 1982, the striking monument has stirred deep, and sometimes painful, emotions in many people.

Some visitors walk the length of the memorial slowly and reverently, but without a pause. Others stop before certain names to linger where they recognize the name of a son, sweetheart, or fellow soldier. They wipe away their tears and remember the legacy those lost lives left behind.

For Robert Bedker, Willard Craig, and Darrall Lausch—three Vietnam veterans—a trip to visit the memorial must be especially moving because each man can walk up to the long ebony wall and find their own names carved in the stone. Because of data coding errors, each of them was incorrectly listed as killed in action upon the monument.

Dead, but truly and completely alive—this is a perfect description of every believer in Jesus Christ. Just as Christ suffered death of the flesh and was made alive by the Spirit, so are we as Christians made alive in the Holy Spirit (see 1 Peter 3:18). And we are called to die to ourselves every day and walk in the Spirit of Jesus.

Every day we should thank God for raising us up from the mire and muck to live in glory with Him. Because of the death of Jesus on the cross, we can rest peacefully knowing that we will be alive forever with Him in heaven one day. Praise God!

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank God for making you alive in the Spirit as a believer. Pray that He would help you die to yourself and your sins every day, so that you can be more like Him.

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