The Walking Dead

 
Zombies are everywhere! They are in movies, television shows, and video games! With Halloween just around the corner, zombie popularity will only increase. Perhaps, you’re familiar with The Walking Dead…it’s a TV drama about life after a zombie apocalypse. In the drama, people have to hide out and move from place to place to stay safe from the zombies, who are walking dead. Unfortunately, the fear of the survivors often leads to cruelty that is often deadlier than the zombies themselves. I have never seen The Walking Dead television show or read the comic, but I know the real walking dead…and I used to be one of them!
Unlike the zombies in the show, today’s walking dead are more difficult to spot. Not only are they walking, but they are also laughing, working, exercising, eating and more. They’re all around us and they look just like us! Some are family members, neighbors, and friends. Their kids attend school with your kids and are on the same basketball team. The walking dead even share your cubicle at the office. Many are beautiful and smiling and some are rich and famous! Physically, they are vibrant. Inside they are dead!
The walking dead I know, resemble those who are fully alive. It is difficult to distinguish those who are dead from those who are alive, but it’s possible. Just like a zombie, the walking dead prefer the dark. Because they are spiritually dead, they are more comfortable in spiritual darkness. The dead spirit can’t determine what is evil. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
God has created us to live abundantly in the Light. He desires for our spirits to be full of life! The dead choose to stay in the darkness, rather than to step into the light. They choose to live in sin and to be separated from God. When we sin continuously, we begin to live in that sin. As we get used to doing it, sin becomes a habit…a way of life…a way of walking, but remaining dead inside. Sin takes more from us than we really want to give physically and spiritually. It kills us little by little and keeps us from the life-giving Light. Sin keeps the walking dead in spiritual darkness.
While there seems to be no good news for the zombies, there is great news for those who are actually walking dead. “For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). There is hope for those who are dead in their sin. God offers life to every single one. God made a way to bring the walking dead to life. “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus lived a sinless life, died on the cross and came back to life to offer life to those who are dead. When you place your trust in Him, he will replace your sin with His righteousness. “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness” (Romans 8:10).
If you are spiritually dead, there is hope! Place your trust in Jesus and let Him spiritually raise you from the dead. Let Him shine light in the dark places, so you can live an abundant life! If you are spiritually alive, help those who are walking dead to see that life that is offered through Jesus! I encourage you to share the Light of the world with the dead who are walking around you!