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BRAVER THAN LIONS
Mark Miller
Jul 25, 2024
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even
though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26 New International Version
Many years ago, when I was in seminary in North Carolina, I purchased a lifetime
subscription to Wildlife in North Carolina magazine. It was a great deal. For $100 I
could receive this magazine every month until I died. As with many magazines, the
mailing labels listed when my subscription expired. Originally it is just read “Expires:
Lifetime”
Then somewhere along the way it started listing an actual date. “Expires 2032”. This
was rather troubling. Were they trying to tell me something? I had rather hoped to live
longer than that. And what if I did? Would they cancel my subscription anyway?
I called to let them know I had a lifetime subscription. The next magazine came and the
label still listed a date but this time is read “Expires 2100”. Now that’s better. They now
were telling me I was going to live to be 140. Then they switched from publishing
monthly to publishing every other month, and so they double everyone’s subscription so
they got the number of magazines they paid for. My lifetime was then doubled. This
was getting better all the time.
This month I noticed the label had changed yet again. This time it simply read “Expires
Never”. I don’t know how a magazine can promise that my lifetime subscription will
never expire. But Jesus can and does. When his friends Martha and Mary were lost in
grief over the death of their brother, Jesus promised “I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live…and whoever lives by believing in me will never
die.” In other words, he says of the lifetime of every believer “expires never.” What a
promise.
Knowing that, we can face life confidently and be braver than lions.
Mark Miller
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