Alive

Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it hapened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then,  as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
Luke 24: 3-5 NKJV

This has long been one of my favorite verses.  As christians, we serve a God who is very much alive.  In Luke 24, we see the followers of Jesus returning to the very tomb where Jesus had been buried just three days earlier.  I'm sure that they were fully expecting to see a guarded, closed tomb,  just as it was when their friend and teacher had been buried.  Imaginne their surprise upon seeing the Lords tomb that not only was the tomb uncovered, but Jesus was nowhere in sight!  Their first thought, of course, was that someone must have  broken in and taken the body of Jesus away.  They did not recall the words of Jesus, when he warned them of all that he must suffer at the hands of sinful men.  Add to that the fact that the stone covering the entrance to the tomb was extremely heavy and not  easily moved.  Still, someone MUST have broken in and stolen his body.  You see, Jesus had plenty of enemies.
Enter the angels of the Lord, who brought to the friends of Jesus the news that he was very much alive.  Yes, there were those who still doubted this fact, but to these women at the tomb of the risen Christ that morning, the proof was right in front of their eyes.  

"He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how he spoke to you when he was in Galilee, "saying, "The son of mman must be delivered into the hhands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."  And they remembered his words.
Luke 24: 6-8

However, even though these women now believed the truth, when they returned to tell  their friends of what they had witnessed, they did not believe them.
I hear alot of people these days say that we cchristians serve a God that is dead.  That we engage in a old fashioned, out of date belief that has no semblence of reality.  I grow tired of trying to explain to people that the scriptures tell us clearly the truth of the life, death and resurection of Jesus.  I've come to the understanding, however, that many times I'll be unable to convince someone of the reality of the living God.  See, the creator of all the universe is more than capable of defending himself and bringing others to the realization that he is indeed real.  However, God can definately use me, and others, as a means to reach people with the truth they need to hear.   It should be our prayer each day, that God would bring into our lives those that need to hear the good news of our living God.

~Scott~