Dancing With Lazarus - Peeling Off The Wrapping

Dancing with Lazarus - Peeling Off the Wrapping

JESUS DECIDED to show Mary and Martha a whopper of a miracle: he raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out!” and he then instructed the witnesses to “unwrap him and let him go!” Lazarus, bound head to toe in his funeral wrappings, was probably more than a bit anxious to get out of his gauze. (I can relate—you should see me stripping out of panty hose after an eight-hour sentence.)

This story contains numerous teachings and subplots that are pretty awesome (you can read all about it in John chapter 11), but it’s the statement “Unwrap him and let him go” that speaks loudest to me. Not until my brush with a life-altering disease did I begin to understand God’s desire to remove us from our bindings and free us from the trappings of this world; free us from our negative self-talk; free us of our twisted thinking toward our families and fellow man.

Are you dead and wrapped up spiritually?

Are you dead and wrapped up emotionally?

Are you dead and wrapped up in your own self-oppression?

I can only imagine that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had a pretty rich conversation around the dinner table that evening. Like me, I’m sure Lazarus saw his brief time on earth through new lenses too.

So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! (Ecclesiastes 9:7)

Once he was rehydrated, I bet ole Lazarus was dancing to beat the band! So with that, I have decided to dance in my new body too . . . the polka, the fox-trot, the rumba . . . it doesn’t matter to me. I have a new perspective on the steps I’m to take.