CCBC

“Let him / her go” – 1 September 2019

At last week’s Family Service we thought about the astonishing miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11.  Having commanded in a loud voice “Lazarus, come out!”, Jesus then said “Take off the grave clothes and let him go”.  Lazarus had been restored to life but needed to be set free from his restricting grave clothes.

We considered a number of things that may be holding us back in our Christian lives – grave clothes that need removing – and after the service someone suggested to me a further, very important factor we may need to deal with (although unfortunately it doesn’t begin with the letter F!).  Let me list them:

  • Fear – e.g. about the future or even our present circumstances
  • Failure – thoughts of “I’m no good”, “you don’t know what I did in the past”
  • Family / Friends – are others holding you back in your walk with the Lord?
  • Forgotten – you feel overlooked, life has passed you by, even God seems to have forgotten you
  • Futility – is it really worth the commitment / cost of being a Christian, especially when your non-Christian friends seem to be getting on so well?
  • Unforgiveness – you feel unable to forgive someone / others for hurts they have caused you in the past.

There may be many other grave clothes tightly wrapped around you.

Notice that Jesus asked those present to help set Lazarus free.  Is there a close Christian friend you can pray with / ask for help?  Please do speak with any of the elders or Luke.  Jesus has the power and the love to give us new life and to set us free.

Peace and Grace

Paul