Deadly River
Theme of the Week: Raised with Christ
Max Lucado
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
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Key Bible Verse: Because God raised Christ from the dead … your faith and hope can be placed confidently in God (1 Peter 1:21). Bonus Reading:Isaiah 25:6-9
A Brazilian Indian tribe was being ravaged by a contagious disease. A missionary arrived and concluded the tribe's only hope was to cross a nearby river for inoculations at a jungle infirmary there. But the Indians believed the river to be inhabited by evil spirits, and that entering its water meant certain death.
To overcome the tribe's superstition, the missionary explained how he'd crossed the river and arrived unharmed. No luck. He led the people to the bank, walked out into the river, and splashed water on his face. They still hesitated. Finally he dove into the water, swam beneath the surface, and emerged on the other side. The Indians broke into cheers and followed him across.
Jesus explained to his followers that the river of death was nothing to fear. They wouldn't believe him. He touched a boy and called him back to life. He whispered life into a girl's dead body. He let a dead man spend four days in a grave, then called him out. They remained unconvinced. He had to submerge Himself in death before people would believe it had been conquered. But after He came out on the other side, it was time to celebrate!
—Max Lucado in Six Hours One Friday
My Response: How has knowing that Jesus conquered death altered my fear of it?
Thought to Apply: The Resurrection of Jesus means that God has … shown us that the door [of death is] torn off at the hinges!
—James Massey (theologian)
Adapted fromSix Hours One Friday (Multnomah, 1989) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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Lord God, I praise You for Your incredible power that raised Your Son from the dead—and will also raise me.
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