SCRIPTURE: The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Cor. 15:26 ESV
THOUGHT: I don’t think we generally have a rough time thinking of death as an enemy in our culture. The time and money people spend on looking younger is staggering. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons saw an average 19% increase in all cosmetic categories in just the three years between 2019 and 2022. The total number of cosmetic surgeries in 2022 was 1.5 million, just in case you’re a numbers person, led by a 150% increase in cheek implants (8,238) and an 86% increase in buttock lifts (7,338). That’s just one clue that people are becoming even more prone to anxiety, comparison, self-focus, and disquiet with their bodies.
What if all that energy (forget the money) was redirected toward spiritual well-being rather than social well-being? What if people stopped trying to deny aging and death as part of the consequences of sin, and began to embrace the truth that God already destroyed the power of sin and has a plan to destroy death and restore creation to his original intent?
Today as you emerge into a post-Easter week, examine your own spiritual beliefs. Do you have a robust and healthy view of your body and aging? Do you see death as an enemy that you must vanquish in your own strength, or one that will be vanquished by God when we, like Jesus, will live fully into the resurrection?
PRAYER: Oh God, I don’t know how to put it into words, but I grieve for each person trapped by Satan into despising their own flesh. What bondage to chase beauty and youth as if that’s all there is. What bondage to not allow your love for us to color our entire lives – how we feel about ourselves, and the kind of love we are able to offer others. I pray for forgiveness for a culture that seeks outward appearances rather than inward peace and beauty. Amen.
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