Our society is fascinated with the idea of zombies, the so-called “walking dead”. Your local bookstore probably has all kinds of zombie stories. Numerous television shows and movies feature battles against the living dead as a central theme.
I believe that the walking dead are all around us, but they aren’t anything like the media portrays them. These people seem perfectly normal, even happy in many ways. Their faces are not grotesque masks, and their body parts are not falling off. These dead are ordinary in every way.
All people are dead in their sin and trespass. All of us start as walking dead and continue unless God releases us.
“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 ESV
Our sin destines us for eternal living torment. Unless we are born again of the Spirit, we never truly experience living.
“Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” John 3:4-7 ESV
It is no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of people you see around you daily are dead in their sins. They are the walking dead.
The dead cannot seek God. The dead cannot choose God. We must take the gospel to them and allow the Spirit to do the work of bringing them back from among the vast hordes of the dead.
The cure for the actual walking dead isn’t to shoot or stab them in the head. It is to bring Jesus to them.
Many Christians are hesitant to share the truth of Jesus. It is often fear that holds us back. Fear of rejection or of messing up the message, and more, can inhibit us. Yet, our message is the only hope these people have. All other ways leave them on the path of destruction.
How significant is the need? Next time you’re out and about, take a look around. Most people you encounter are walking dead in their sin and have no way to rescue themselves.
Unlike the zombies of fiction, these people cannot bring you into their realm. They cannot undo the work of Christ. We might stumble over them for a while, but we are secure in Christ, so there is no reason to fear them.
Death has no hold on the believer; it has lost its sting. We will physically die, but our future is a berth in glory. The devil may accuse us, and our stumbles mark us as guilty, but the righteousness of Christ Himself redeems us.
I urge you to look around with open eyes to see how big the harvest field truly is. Then, may you share the truth of freedom and life.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
