TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL

August 31, 2006

The Last Word
READ: John 11:17-27
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” —John 11:25

When Walter Bouman, a retired seminary professor, learned that the cancer in his body had spread and that he had perhaps 9 months to live, he pondered many things. One was comedian Johnny Carson’s quip: “It is true that for several days after you die, your hair and fingernails keep on growing, but the phone calls taper off.” He found that humor to be a wonderful tonic, but it was something far deeper that sustained his soul.
In Bouman’s newspaper column, he wrote of his greatest source of encouragement: “The Christian good news is that Jesus of Nazareth has been raised from death, that death no longer has dominion over Him. I have bet my living, and now I am called to bet my dying, that Jesus will have the last word.”
In John 11, we read what Jesus said to Martha, a close friend who was grieving the death of her brother. He said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (vv.25-26).
For each “today” we are given, and for the inevitable “tomorrow” that will come, we don’t have to be afraid. Jesus Christ is with all who trust Him, and He will have the last word. —David C. McCasland

To Him I trust my soul, my dust,
When flesh and spirit sever;
The Christ we sing has plucked the sting
Away from death forever. —Anon.

Because Jesus has risen from the dead, He has the last word in life and in death.