Short Devotion

By Kalvin Surya Budiman, USA

The day Alimin passed away I was reading about Lazarus (John 11:1-44) and some articles on nihilism and existentialism. It is captivating to know how we, human beings, are in constant struggle to find the meaning of life, and it often takes the fact of "death" to help us to put life into perspective. But if I stop at that fact, then I'm an existentialist according to the book that I read, and being an existentialist is problematic because existentialism only helps us to become aware of the meaning of life without necessarily having one. Thank God, the Bible says something more.

When Lazarus died, Jesus did not arrive on the scene until several days afterwards. I like to imagine that during those days, Lazarus must have seen the light waiting for him on the other side of life. If that really what was happening-and I like to think that that was true-Lazarus must have been very reluctant when he was brought back to this side of life again. But I also like to imagine that when Lazarus came out of his grave and saw his beloved friend, Jesus, standing there right in front of him, he would not be able to tell which side of life he was on; and that's all right because to be with Christ is what really matters.

To all Alimin's friends and family: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful ones" (Ps. 116:15).

(From personal devotions of Kalvin S. Budiman)
Blessings,
Kalvin.