Are You ALIVE?

“Are You ALIVE?”

By Zach Wood

Ephesians 2:1-2

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”

When I read this passage, two key phrases grab my attention: “you were” and “you used to”.  These are both past tense phrases that Paul uses as he talks to the church in Ephesus about the lives they used to live without Christ.  Paul is encouraging these people and saying to them that they used to live without hope, but not any longer.  They were dead in sin and they used to live by the world, but not anymore.

As Paul told the church in Ephesus, the message is the same for us who are in Christ.  If you have life in Jesus Christ, then you have a past that He has forgiven and redeemed you from.  You “were” dead in sin and you “used to” live apart from the ways of God, but now you have a new life that is completely different that Christ gave to you.  Are you living that life?

When I think about my past and the ways I used to live, I remember the desires which did not bring praise or pleasure to God at all.  They were moments of temporary pleasure and I never found satisfaction through those moments.  They were fun for the time being, but when I discovered new life in Christ, I realized a whole new life I should live that would be pleasing to Him.  Not only would this life be pleasing to Him, but it would also show people around me a life they should be living as well.

Often I find the past trying to haunt me and pull me back to the old life I once lived.  Sometimes, it’s easy to get off-course from the life Christ has called us to because the old life comes back to invite us for one more round of fun.  We would be very wise to not give in to those desires, but to hold onto Christ and trust that He will help us through and turn away from those desires once again.  We are made ALIVE in Christ!  Do we truly believe that and are we living a life that shows it? 

It is my hope and prayer that we would all really desires, deep down, to live this new life with great joy every single day.  The desire we should have, from the time we get up to the time we lay our heads to rest, is to serve Christ and live a life that is ALIVE through Him!  Are you ALIVE?