Dead Last Week

Pavement Ends Ministry

Dead Last Week

Jairus stood by her bed watching as she slept. His heart was so happy it almost hurt. At twelve, she was still a little girl yet so close to being a young woman. Also at twelve, he had almost lost her. He listened to her breathing as she slept and saw a sweet smile on her beautiful face. He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer of thanks because he knew that before Jesus came, she was dead last week.

His sisters were raising a ruckus. They did not think he should be working in the hot sun. But working in the vineyard is what he wants to do. Rocks have fallen from the wall and need to be replaced. Vines have to be pruned and briars must be pulled. At the end of the day Mary and Martha will continue to nag him about taking it easy. But his sore muscles and his sweat-soaked clothes are trophies of life. There was blood trickling from a scratch on his arm. Lazarus looked at it and chuckled. He said, “Just think, before Jesus came, I was dead last week”!

The church people are skeptical and his friends think he is crazy. But he knows the truth. He had been sitting under a bridge with a bottle of alcohol and a bag of pills. He had a plan. He was going to drink the alcohol, swallow the pills and die. Then a hand touched his arm and he heard a voice saying, “There is a better way, come follow Me. I will make you whole again.” Yes, down at the church they are skeptical, and his friends call him crazy. But his children are no longer afraid of him and his wife now stands by his side. The bottle is broken, the pills are trampled in the mud and he is alive. And he knows, if it had not been for Jesus he would have been dead last week.

Jesus is right here. He has power over death, hell, and the grave and is victorious over modern demons like drugs and alcohol. In John chapter 6, we hear Him say “I tell you this, and you can be sure of it. If you believe in Me, you will have everlasting life.” He has shown us that he can bring hungry little girls back from the dead and call a friend out of the grave. Life is but a vapor and death is but a shadow. Put your faith in Jesus and the fear of death will be gone like last week.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

www.pavementendsministry.com

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