WRITTEN IN RED

WEEP NOT, ARISE

13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. Luke 7:13-14 (KJV)

 

 

 

            Two words for the weeping, one word for the dead.  Is it not amazing how it takes more time and effort on Christ part to stop our tears than to raise our deceased loved ones?  In the story of our text the widow of Nain is accompanying the bier of her dead son as they travel to the burial place.  Sure she is broken and hurting.  Her husband has already passed and this dead son was her only child.  Jesus stops the bier and speaks to the woman and tells her to “Weep not.”  She was like most of us when we suffer the loss of a loved one and we realize it will never be the same again.  “Could my tears forever flow?” “Is there no end to my weeping?”  Many a person has been there, wondering if there would ever come a time when they could face life again.  Would life be worth living?  Sometimes we weep over what might have been.  Martha and Mary were so concerned that Jesus had not come sooner in the case of their brother Lazarus.  Had Jesus come sooner their brother would not have died.  Jesus seemed to have spent considerable time with each when he arrived in Bethany.  When my father passed away my mother was concerned about tomorrow because she and my dad had spent almost sixty years together.  Jesus had the same words for my mother as he had for the widow of Nain.  “Weep not.”  The same savior that raises the dead speaks peace to our hearts.  The same power that brings life to the deceased can also bring healing to our sorrow. On that great getting up morning the Lord will need only one word for my dad and all other believers “Arise.”  Yes for our broken and hurting souls it takes words and time and adjusting.  But one of these days, when God determines, it will only take one word to wake the dead and take us all home.  Until that time Lord we thank you for these precious words written in red.

 

 

Yours in Christ,

 

Brother Randy Burtram

 

(Originally published May 3, 2015)