Day 33 – Death

Rhu & Shandon Churchyard

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life… if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6: 3-4, 8, 11)

 There is no resurrection without dying. It is resurrection from the dead, not somehow bypassing death. We must die to ourselves, enter the waters and be buried with Christ. Some of us will remember a particular time and place where we did this, but for everyone it is a commitment that is revisited and renewed with every challenge that life brings. It may come as some relief, laying down the burden of the old, sterile ways of living that we could not change, but it may also involve struggles with old weaknesses or deep fears. We are the last people we should be trusting for our salvation. But our faith is in Christ and it is completely safe with him. We have been given another life, one that is truly our own.

(Extract from Dust & Glory by David Runcorn)

 Prayer

Lord, please lead me through death to life.