One prayer I’ve prayed for years is, “Jesus, bring me back to life.” I’ve prayed this over my health when my body struggled to do normal daily tasks. I’ve prayed this over my heart when it valued some people more than others.
In his book Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell talks about the moment when Jesus approaches Lazarus’s tomb and Martha protests because it will be stinky. Rob said the words, “he stinketh,” went through his mind for days. He pondered what part of his life has the stink of death on it and what he needed brought back to life.
The idea of evil as death, creeping in like frostbite, is a powerful one. Evil makes us apathetic where we should be alive. It tells us we’re powerless before death makes us so. It lulls us to sleep whispering, “It’s not worth the bother. Nothing changes anyway.”
Evil makes us apathetic where we should be alive.
But we are the people of redemption. We believe things do change. Our whole faith is based on Jesus coming to make things better, God giving up his Son to make things better, and being tasked to take the good news (which makes things better) to everyone. The world around us is loved by God, the people and the animals. If we’ve stopped caring, and we all have in some way or other, we can pray for that part of us to be brought back to life. The Life-Giver is ready to help us. John 11
