Rise Up Like Lazarus

It is impossible to live in power and purpose when we are living in our garments of death. Those
garments of death are saturated with the stench of sin and keep us captive in an old life. They
are not meant for us to wear. They were never meant for us to live in. God is telling us to take
off our garments of death.
A large stone sealed off the cave where Lazarus’ dead body lay. With great intention and
purpose, he had been in there for four long days. He had succumbed to a progressive illness
that quickly took his life. And now, Lazarus was gone.

All he had needed was a touch. And by this time in Jesus’ ministry, even the disciples could have
performed such a miracle. From afar, Jesus could have spoken healing into existence. After all,
he had already done that with the centurion—why not a repeat performance? God’s glory is a
beautiful and mysterious wonder, but it often comes by way of suffering.
Jesus is always on time. He is never early, and He is never late. He is intentional with His arrival,
knowing exactly what needs to get done and when. Four days late by our standards is right on
time through that Kingdom lens. Four days late offers the ultimate glory of Jesus to be seen and
experienced by all. What a scene that must have been.
“When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came
out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to
them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go’” (John 11:43-44).
It was time for Lazarus to rise up. Death had lost all power at the sound of Jesus’ voice. He
immediately commanded Lazarus to take off his grave clothes, for it was those very clothes that
tethered Lazarus to sickness and death. It was those very clothes that wreaked of decay. Jesus
had come to free him from all bondage. As Lazarus walked out of that dark cave and into the
bright light of life, everything had to be left behind, so he took off his garments of death and
walked toward Jesus.
Many of us are weighed down by the very things that have been nailed to the cross—somehow,
they have crept back into our soul. Once again, we find we have been taken captive. Maybe it is
our past that haunts us. Maybe a sin that just won’t die. Maybe it is a battle, a struggle so
intense that we seldom experience the light He called us to live in. Fear, doubt, anxiety, and
depression are smelly clothes that enslave, preventing us from the fullness of God. These
garments of bondage don’t belong to us—they have been nailed to the cross. These garments
are no longer ours to wear.

Dear friend, He has called you out of the grave. Leave your garments of death behind and rise
up, for you have been freed. Step away from the garments and move towards Christ. Rise up
like Lazarus and live!