November 3, 2021

Romans 6:5
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 
 
 
One word jumps off the page for me. Certainly. I don’t know of many things in my life I feel comfortable saying will certainly happen. I hope for (and work towards) a long life, happy marriage, job security, and any other number of goals. But I would rarely say they will certainly happen. 
 
What a tremendous comfort to see the thing I most desire, becoming like Jesus and being united with him, will certainly happen. However, there’s a pretty steep price of admission. Paul says we will certainly be united with Christ IF we have first been united with him in death. When I consider the cost, I have to stop and think for a minute. On one hand, I desperately want the reward. On the other hand, the price frightens me.
 
I know as a “good Christian” I should eagerly embrace death to myself. I should, like Jesus, endure it “for the joy set before him.” But, I don’t wake up each morning praying for opportunities to sacrifice. I don’t start my week hoping to be inconvenienced, unappreciated or overlooked as I love others.
 
Here’s the uncomfortable truth. Death is coming for you. It’s not a matter of if, but when. You can ignore it, avoid it, and delay it as much as you want. But death is coming. The beauty of Jesus’s example is that we can choose death now, and begin a life where death no longer has mastery over us, as Paul goes on to say in verse nine. So today, count the cost of following Jesus. Choose death carefully, but do so in the certainty of unity with Jesus.