We Would Smell Better if We Were Focused on the Right Thing
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been discussing who Jesus is. He is the Light of the World, the Bread of Life, the Gate and Good Shepherd. This week Jesus tells us that He is the Resurrection and the Life. (John 11:25)

Jesus makes this statement to Martha as they are talking about her brother, Lazarus, who died four days earlier. Jesus asks her if she believes her brother will rise from the dead. She says she knows that he will, in the resurrection on the last day. (John 11:23-24) The Jews believed there would be a resurrection on the last day, but most did not realize that Jesus was the key to this.
Martha was upset that Jesus hadn’t been there sooner to prevent her brother from dying. She wanted Lazarus back now. She didn’t want to wait.
They went to Lazarus’s tomb and Jesus told them to remove the stone. Martha protested. She said,
“Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days.”

Jesus replied, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?” So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.” Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:39-43)
When Jesus was resurrected He was in His heavenly body. This was not so for the other people that Jesus raised from the dead. They all had to die again. Having to go through the struggles and pain of life a second time doesn’t sound like much fun.
However, there’s another side to this.
I think getting a second chance would make them appreciate life more.
I’m basing this on my own personal experience when I got a second chance. Back in 2012, I fell when a scaffold plank broke. I was unconscious in the hospital for three days with a severe concussion. This may not be the same thing that Lazarus experienced, but I remember nothing from those three days.
I can tell you that this second chance changed my outlook and gave me a new appreciation of life.

If we gave our spiritual lives as much attention as we do our physical lives, the world would be a different place. Just like Martha asked Jesus to raise Lazarus and He did. He will do the same for us.
God gives us free will to choose to be raised. It’s up to us what we do with that choice.
We all start out spiritually dead. We stink in our worldly sins.