NOTHING IS TOO LATE WITH GOD!
TEXT
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11 verses 25 to 26, King James Version).
We are too well familiar with the Bible story of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, who were friends of Jesus.
Lazarus had taken ill and the sisters, Mary and Martha had sent someone to Jesus to come to heal him.
"Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick" (John 11 verse:3).
Jesus' reply was that "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby" (John 11 verse 4). This was Jesus' response to the message and no doubt, this was related to Mary and Martha, who did not only believe the Lord, but also expected his quick arrival to save the situation. Eventually and contrary to the sister's expectations, the Lord delayed getting to them and Lazarus died.
I want to point out in passing that the moment Jesus declared that the sickness was not unto death was when the miracle of Lazarus' resurrection actually began. Indeed, a miracle begins the moment the confession or declaration of victory is made. However, at the same time, the battle also begins to get rougher and tougher the moment you make your confession of faith. When you declare that God’s Word is what is going to happen in your life, that's the moment that confrontation with the devil begins; that’s when the real battle of faith begins. That's when the devil will do his utmost to oppose and discourage you from sticking to God's Word.
When Jesus arrived eventually, Lazarus had died and had been buried for four days. Amidst the sisters' accusations saying,
"if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." (John 11 verse 21), the Lord Jesus made an outstanding declaration that constitutes the Scripture reading for today. He said,
"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
With this, the core message that the Lord Jesus was passing to Martha in effect was that when it comes to dealing with Him, nothing is too late because He's the Resurrection and Life. According to the Lord Jesus, if anyone believes in Him and dies, he'll live again. On the other hand, if anyone believes in Him, he shall never die, but shall continue to live. In other words, whether you die or live, it makes no difference with Jesus because He's the Resurrection and Life. Time can run against man, but not so with God!
This is very important. For instance, with Sarah the Bible says in Genesis 18 verse 11 that "it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women." In other words, at the time that Sarah conceived, menopause had long set in. Her body was as good as dead (see Rom 4 verse 19). If God could bless Sarah with Isaac's conception at that age and under that circumstance, it proves that NOTHING IS TOO LATE WITH GOD! After all, He's "God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." (Romans 4 verse 17). God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10 verse 34). What He did for one, He'll do for another, under the same circumstances.
Besides, is it not the Lord that says that He "will restore to you the years that the locust had eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar and the palmerworm"? (Joel 2 verse 25). Understand therefore that your testimony is a show of God's glory. He's showing up for you this year, in Jesus name.
PRAYER:
I humble myself before you Lord because with You, all things are possible. I'm glad because my case is therefore not beyond redemption, in Jesus name.