It’s true- sometimes my weird brain goes to some very weird places (if you know me, you know this).

 

Example?  Well since March when the word ‘pandemic’ became pandemically popular ad nauseum, thoughts of the Zombie Apocalypse have gone viral in my head. I remember even asking my classes Zombie-like attendance questions like:

 

-what three people would you want with you in the event of a ZA?

 

-would you prefer fast moving, stupid Zombies?  Or slow moving, intelligent Zombies?

 

For the record, I really don’t believe this event would happen- but if it did, I feel like I’ll be just fine, because I don’t chronically fall down and twist my ankle when being chased, and my escape strategy does not typically include hiding in a dark basement!

 

On the other hand, however, I believe Zombies are real…It’s true!  And frankly I had forgotten about that until the other day when I was reading this from God’s Word: 

 

“As for you, don’t you remember how you used to just exist? Corpses, dead in life, buried by transgressions, wandering the course of this perverse world. You were the offspring of the prince of the power of air—oh, how he owned you, just as he still controls those living in disobedience. (Ephesians 2:1-2) 

 

Did you catch that? Corpses…dead in life…wandering the course of this perverse world. You see, the Bible teaches that before I put my faith in Jesus for salvation and became His follower, my dead soul was literally reanimated by Satan.  Even though I breathed and spoke and journeyed through this world in my physical body, my spirit was like a Zombie.

 

By the way, this is the condition of everyone on the planet who hasn’t trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation and new life. No, they don’t have protruding bones and rotting flesh, but inside they are spiritually dead.  And if you get close enough, they can actually exhibit many Zombie-esque characteristics!

 

Need an example? 

 

OK- ever been around people who exist only to satisfy their cravings? Yep- Zombies be like that

 

Ever know folks who desire to drag down everyone around them to their dark attitude and actions?

 

And perhaps worst of all, Zombies don’t respond to the truly beautiful things of this world- especially love. 

 

Friends- if you had known me when I was among the walking dead, you would have seen how self-absorbed my life had become. I relentlessly pursued the useless things of this world like a famished rotter. And my friends who knew Jesus lived a lifestyle of contentment and peace that made me want to bring them back into my dark world. I resented how alive they were!

 

Worst of all, when anyone shared the gospel with me, it fell on deaf ears (or dead ears?) I couldn’t, or wouldn’t, respond to the unconditional love offered by Jesus Christ. 

 

But that all changed in one timeless moment when, by God’s grace, I allowed the cure for my spiritual death to totally infiltrate my rotting spirit…and I became alive for the first time in my life. 

 

Here’s the way the Bible describes it: 

 

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) (Ephesians 2:4-5) 

 

So as we journey this summer through a physical pandemic, don’t forget that we live also in the midst of a spiritual pandemic that makes people the walking dead. We can’t turn a blind eye to the hurt and pain all around us. Let’s be on the keen lookout for opportunities to share the gospel and invite our friends and family to step into the land of the living God!