Dead Living
But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. – 1 Timothy 5:6 NKJV.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. – Ephesians 2:1-3 NKJV.
But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” – Ephesians 5:13-14 NKJV.
95-year-old Li Xiufeng had been in her coffin for six days when she crawled out. A neighbor had found Li not breathing and not moving in her bed. Chen Qingwang was unable to wake Li and believed that she had died while she was asleep. Chen said, “She didn’t get up, so I came up to wake her up. No matter how hard I pushed her and called her name, she had no reactions. I felt something was wrong, so I tried her breath, and she was gone, but her body is still not cold.” The day before the funeral, Chen went to Li’s house and found her coffin was empty. Chen said, “We were so terrified, and immediately asked the neighbors to come for help.” They found Li sitting in her kitchen cooking! Li told them, “I slept for a long time. After waking up, I felt so hungry, and wanted to cook something to eat. I pushed the lid for a long time to climb out.” (Orange News 02.29.12)
You could say that Li Xiufeng was dead, but still living. Her body was still alive at some very low level of existence; however, who would want to live like that? How wonderful it must have been to awake from her almost dead existence, crawl out of the coffin, and begin to really live!
We have heard about people who text while driving, who drink while driving, who are high on drugs while driving, and who do all kinds of other things while they are driving. Even more scary are those who are dead living while driving!
If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, if you have not been “born again (John 3:3)”; you are dead in your “trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).” In addition, those who know Jesus as their Savior, who “lives in pleasure is dead” while living. To be “carnally minded (mind of sinful man – NIV) is death (Romans 8:6)” and everyone who puts their focus, their desires upon the things of this world, or human, fleshly desires are dead living.
The Bible makes it clear what we must do to stop our dead living. We must “awake!” We must “cast off the works of darkness” and “put on the armor of light.” We must “walk properly.” We must “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Romans 13:11-14 NKJV).”
So, if you have been dead living, crawl out of that coffin, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and find out what it is like to really live!
(Many people are dead although they appear to be living.)