O, Death Where is Your Victory?

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A sunny morning with no wind was a temptation stronger than I was able to fight off. So even though the temps were hovering around 45 degrees I found myself straddling my steel horse thundering down the hill toward the river. A quick inspection of the river showed promise that the snow was melting up north. However, this annual melting up north causes the river down here to swell sending the runoff over the riverbanks making the road impassable. It’s a tradeoff I am willing to endure if it introduces our long awaited riding season. So instead of the usual left turn at the bottom of the hill I turned right and rolled to the intersection to wait for my light to turn green. The sun was now putting out some welcome warmth that felt good on the side of my face. For just a second I closed my eyes and enjoyed the Spring warmth.

Before I opened my eyes the warmth disappeared and a chill swept across my face. Opening my eyes I noticed a truck had rolled up next to me blocking out the sunlight and leaving me sitting in the cold shadow of this oversized load. I thought of how sitting in that shadow was uncomfortable and not a fun place to be. As soon as the light turned green I accelerated and broke from the shadow and back into the sun. I thought about how being hit by the truck would have meant certain death. However, swallowed up by the shadow only meant discomfort for a short time. That’s when I thought about the verse in the 23rd Psalm that reminds us to cling to the promise that He will never leave us. “Yes, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for though art with me.”

You see, Christ died carrying all of the sin of man. The bible tells us He was carrying the iniquities of us all. He tasted death, Hell and the grave so that I don’t have to. If we continue the truck and shadow analogy then we could say. Christ was hit by the truck so that I must only pass through its shadow. It is sin which gives death its power to claim us and God has forgiven my sin through the death and resurrection of His son Jesus who I have accepted as the payment for my sin. When Jesus died on the cross the price of sin was paid once and for all of us.

Isaiah 53:4-6 says:
4.Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

Because of Jesus death, death, Hell and the grave has no right to me and cannot claim me. I think Corinthians says it best:
Corinthians 15:54-55
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: "Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your sting?
Now don’t get me wrong, we all have that date in our future when we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. However, we don’t have to walk it alone. All we have to do is ask Christ to be our shepherd and He promised he would walk with us.

Thank you Jesus!

Well, for the rest of this ride I am going to try and stay on the sunny side of these big trucks. The sun feels so good after a long cold winter. It’s amazing the thoughts that roll through this bald head as I’m riding. But I am so grateful that God shows His children the path and never stops leading. I just need to pay more attention to Him and stop looking for my own way all the time. As a great man once said, “Patience grasshopper.”

Remember to always ride the narrow road and stop in and see us again.
You riding companion, Larry