Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Read: Romans 6:1-4

When I was a young child, around 9 years old, our family experienced a
tragedy like none I had experienced in my young life. On a cool fall
Sunday evening in North Carolina, there was a death in the family.
Bootsie, our loyal poodle of 13 years, was dreadfully and horribly
murdered before our very eyes. It was a drive-by killing. By my father.
With the entire family in the van watching the unpleasant scene unfold
with disbelief. Bootsie always ran out from the backyard to greet us on
arriving home and this time he got a little too excited, and my dad got
a little too careless, and before anyone knew what had happened we heard the stomach-turning sound of ba-boom under the family van.
It was so difficult to deal with. I’d never thought of my dad of the
killing type before, and now he had just killed my very best friend. My
confidant. He was part of me and I was part of him.
The next morning we had a funeral service for Bootsie. My dad, trying
his best to move beyond his murderous ways, built a coffin, as my
brothers and I watched, for our beloved pal. My mom and sisters went to
the florist to get some flowers. There in our backyard we dug a hole,
prayed over Bootsie, said our goodbyes, and laid him in his final
resting place.
Over the next couple of weeks I missed Bootsie tremendously. As I played
in the backyard I would often wander over to the gravesite and sit and
think of all our good times together. I wanted him back. Why did he have
to die? Would I ever have fun again? One day, as I sat next to dead
Bootsie, a thought came into my misguided 9-year-old mind, “Why can’t I
dig Bootsie up? Just for a while. No one will know. It would be great to
hang out with him again. I’ll put him back just like he was before.” Of
course, after coming to my senses, I realized this was not an option and
that playing with dead things was strictly prohibited in my parent’s
household.
I wonder why any rational person can understand the futility and
absurdity of playing with dead things, but we as Christians, regularly
dig up our old self for a few moments of instant gratification. We are
alive and new, “we have died to sin, so how can we continue to live in
it?” Sure there will be times when we feel like bringing back the old,
dead self…for old times sake, but we must resist the urge. It’s not
healthy to play with dead things whether it’s your loyal poodle or your
old life of sin. Let’s leave the dead things in our lives buried and
discover (or rediscover) the joys that come with our new lives in
Christ.

Chris McCabe, Freedom