“Death, where is your sting?”
DEVOTIONAL
“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
1 Corinthians 15:55 NASBS
Christian reader, as you travel the narrow road that leads to eternal life there will be valleys that you must cross. They cannot be swept out of the way as if they do not exist and they cannot be suppressed in the conscience never to be thought of again. These valleys will be filled with suffering, grief, regret, heartache, temptations, sickness, and death. And though these valleys look differently in each of our lives, never-the-less they are real and seek to subdue the mind and move the emotions into a state of continual sorrow. It is at this moment one may in and of himself labor in his own might to climb out of the rocky crags of suffering just to find at the end of the strenuous efforts he was climbing a ladder of sand that only sank him deeper into a state of desperation. Oh the ravaging of sin and how it has brought death to every living thing. Death completely encompasses us in our daily walk and is a reminder of the frailty of human flesh, that is, it is like a vapor that appears for a little while and then it vanishes away. Though not in comparison with Job, one might cry as Job did, “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.””My eyes have also grown dim because of grief, And all my members are as a shadow.”
Yes, my brothers and sisters, though we are Christians, we are not exempt from death in this world, but see it all the more in its vivid reality. That is, it is a result of sin that has infected all of humanity from birth, for the wages of sin is death. Not only are the wages of sin is death, but sin is woven in the fabric of all of our flesh. It takes the expression of God’s character which is found in His perfect law and leverages it against us to sin all the more. The Apostle Paul tells us himself concerning sin, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ” By no means is the Apostle seeking to justify sin in his life, but speaking of the great battle that is taking place within his own soul. He later says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Therefore, Christian prepare your minds for battle, for no one knows the time nor the hour suffering will come upon you. Though there will be times when you feel as if you have ascended to heaven and worship God in all of its glory, there also will be a time when you will stare death in the face either in your own life or through a loved one. Unless the Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, death is imminent. So when it puts its grips around you hold fast valiant warrior, for Jesus Christ, your Savior, defeated death when He raised Himself from the grave. He trampled death under His feet and He will take you by the hand and walk you through this grim road. It is then you will cry, “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY, O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING” as death becomes the chariot The Lord uses to usher you into heaven.