“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

Every time I see a commercial for that TV show, “The Walking Dead,” the Holy Spirit reminds me that I used to be one of them.

I stumbled in the dark, a slave to sin, forced to roam through life feeding on more fleshly sins.

We joke about getting ready for the Zombie Apocalypse, but I’ve got news for you.

It’s always been here. And it’s been here since Adam first sinned.

The walking dead are all around us. They may not take a bite out of your arm, but they’re still dead people walking.

This’s what God says in His Word: Jesus is the Light. Without Jesus, we’re in darkness.

We’re zombies to our sin nature.

If you’re a Christian, is God lighting your path, or are you stumbling in the dark like the walking dead?

If you’re not a Christian, then you’re among the walking dead.

The Book of Romans is filled with the Apostle Paul’s references to the walking dead, or being dead in our sins.

The reverse is also true. Romans is filled with God’s light.

It’s the awesome knowledge, hope and saving grace that comes in Christ Jesus.

Romans is God’s powerful instruction manual on how you got your walking dead card and what you need to do to rip it up.

When Do You Begin Your Membership in the Walking Dead Club?

We’re born as card-carrying members of the walking dead. When Adam sinned, we all sinned.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

We’re dead in our trespasses. We’re dead in our sins. (Ephesians 2:1)

Walking in the flesh equals walking in death. This is the plight of the walking dead.

And Jesus is the Light that blasts through the darkness.

Why You Do The Things You Don’t Want to Do

“Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:20)

Sounds like someone who’s possessed by sin, doesn’t it?

Often we choose to be enslaved by sin even when we know it hurts our relationship with God.

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

What Does it Mean to “Walk in Darkness?”

It means to not look at life through the eyes of Jesus, or live life without the saving grace of Jesus in your heart.

It means to be “self-centered” and not “other-centered.”

It means to be rebellious to God and His commandments.

It means to be lost. It doesn’t necessarily mean you are an evil person, but you are of your father, the devil.

That cold, hard fact is outlined in John 8:44:

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

What Does it Mean to “Walk in the Light?”

It means to do right in the eyes of God.

It means to have a heart for God.

What we do, we do for the glory of God, who brought us out of darkness through the Light of His Son, Jesus.

Our sins have been blotted out. In God’s eyes we are righteous and justified.

No longer members of the walking dead, we’re to live a justified life through Jesus.

Jesus obliterates the trappings of darkness.

Simply put, to walk in darkness is to walk with your earthly father, the devil.

To walk in the light is to walk with your heavenly father, Almighty God.

That is the one singular choice we all must make in this lifetime. The consequences are eternal.

In Acts 26:18 Jesus explains why He came to Earth:

“To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”

Romans exhorts the believer to:

1. “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:13)

2.  “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)

3. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Time to Rip Up Your Card in The Walking Dead ClubIt’s time to come fully back to God and renounce sinful membership in the walking dead club.

It’s time to follow the light of Jesus that shines a path out of your stumbling darkness.

It’s time to be called children of God and restore that relationship with Abba, Father.

1 Peter 2:9 reminds us:

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Your eternal salvation depends on it.

In this troubled world, it’s time to walk in the light and let your light shine among men.

If it were not so important, Jesus would not have repeated it, as we read in John 8:12:

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’”

You may be a Jew living under the laws of the Old Testament. You may be a gentile. Perhaps you don’t know Jesus but are tired of being a slave to sin.

Isaiah foretold of Christ’s coming when he wrote, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” (Isaiah 9:2)

Leave the walking dead behind once and for all by trusting in Jesus.

I love what Romans 7:24-25 says:

 ^“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

You can rip up your walking dead membership card at any time by accepting and believing in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Romans 8:10-11 sums it up:

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

You will find the reward has eternal ramifications.

“So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’” (1 Cor. 15:54)

 (Click on this link to read the entire New King James Version of Romans.)