Monday, May 4th, 2009 "Attack of the Zombies"

Tsunami Devotional by Steve Keaton
Monday, May 4^th, 2009
Title: Attack of the Zombies
Text: Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV)
¹⁹ I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

This past Sunday night the program for both my middle school and high school ministries was entitled “Stomp Steve”, and the premise of this enticing program was for the youth to brainstorm and come in with anything they wanted to and then challenge me to tie it back into God or our relationship with God. Now, they also had to be able to connect the idea back to God themselves. This was amazing and hilarious. The payoff was that if you could stump me then that person could go and get something from our concession stand. So, for most teenagers this is something worth putting a little work into, and boy did they ever.

Some of the ideas were quite silly. For instance one senior high fellow throw out, “I once say a duck sitting in a tree.” When I asked him how that could be tied back to God, he simply said, “All things are possible through God.” Touché. We went back and forth and they kept throwing things at me and I kept giving my answers. Then one youth asked how I could connect “Zombies” back to God. I immediately got this image of a person sluggishly moving throughout the world, with no spark in their eyes, no emotion on their face and no purpose in their motion. I could almost feel the sadness and lifelessness in that person and it saddened me. I mean, just take a few minutes and imagine that being person being you. Think about a life with no purpose, to joy, no love, no emotion. Think about a life where you have nothing to look forward to, a life where each minute is the same as the one before it and a life that when you take your last breath, simply stops existing. What kind of life is that?

Well I can’t help but think that there are billions of people around the globe who are living the life of a zombie and they have no clue. They are just going through the motions, day after day, with no true eternal purpose in the minds. They deal with the ups and downs of this life without the comfort and love of God and those who have accepted Christ lending a helping hand or sharing an impactful word. People who hold tight to the idea that they must live for today, get all they can, take care of their own needs and enjoyed it while it lasts because it will all be gone one day. How sad is it that each day we stride just inches away from people who may not have the assurance that this life is not the end of it all? It bothers me that there are amazing people, who do remarkable things and seem to do it all right, but are empty inside because there is a God-shaped hole in their hearts. I am convicted that I am called and equipped by God to reach the lost and help them find true meaning, true existence and true eternal life forever in the paradise of Heaven, but I am not doing enough to reach them.

I am no Zombie expert, but I bet if the zombies really knew that there was a true, meaningful and loving alternative to dead-end life that this world has promised them, they would accept it. And by doing so they are accepting so much more. They accept a life of amazing purpose and a Godly plan designed specifically for them. They accept the idea that no matter what this world throws at them that there is a personal God who walks with them across those amazing mountain tops and through the darks nights in the valley. They accept the fact that when we take our last breathe and our life on this big rock ceases to exist, that our souls will jump for joy and leap for love as we enter the gates to our new home with our Creator in paradise. But us Christ-Followers must step up and begin doing what we are called to do and reach out to those who need to hear and experience the Good News of Christ.

The best part is that this is better than any scary movie or silly video game. This is the real deal and we have the God-given task of reaching the lost for God with love in our hearts and God’s spirit filling our souls. So, let’s get to work. There are zombies all around. Go give them God. They won’t know what hit them.

Something to Think About:

• How can God us you to reach the lost?
• What abilities do you have that you can use to reach the lost?
• Name 3 people in your life that you feel may be spiritual Zombies and they don’t even realize it?
• Write down the ways God can use you to reach those specific people.

A few Minutes with God:
God, please fill me with a passion to reach the lost. Help me identify those who are in desperate need of hearing your word and feeling your presence. I pray God that I will stop just moving through life with my blinders on and start seeking out those in need of you. Amen.