Dead Lizzards

Issues – February 2020 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Dead Lizards

Henry the lizard had sat on Tommy’s shoulder for weeks, everywhere except the chow hall. He perched there like royalty, gazing upon his subjects. Everyone loved Henry.

Tommy had owned Henry for several months, and I was sure he turned his head slightly when I spoke to him. I may have imagined it, but everyone agreed – out of all the cell lizards, Henry was the smartest.

The weather turned cold and wet, and we didn’t see Henry for a week. When he finally resumed his customary position on Tommy’s shoulder, he seemed a little grumpy. His head stopped turning, as if he wanted nothing to do with anyone. Day after day, week after week, Henry ignored us all.

One morning in my hurry to get into my cell, I literally bumped into Tommy. Henry flew off his shoulder and landed many feet away. I was afraid I had killed him, but Tommy let me in on a big secret. “Don’t worry,” he said sadly yet shamefully, “Henry’s been dead for weeks.”

I was more than confused! “What do you mean he has been dead for weeks?” I could not believe I was asking that question.

“He died in that cold spell we had,” Tommy said, as he picked up Henry and placed him on his shoulder. “I didn’t want to let him go, so he is still with me. He’s just not alive anymore.”

As insane as Tommy sounded, he is not alone. Henry is a great example for you and me. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we have been freed from our past sins and hurts as well as our old, cold, dark, dead lives. However, we often continue to act as if these things were still with us. We carry the weight of our past – our dead past – on our shoulders.

As believers we have been clothed with Christ. Isaiah 61:10 says, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (NKJV). We may think, too, of the man whom Jesus delivered from demons, “sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind” (Lk. 8:35), wanting to be with the Savior. The old is past and dead, and we have been made new, for “in Christ, [the believer] is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Our new clothing is no place for dead lizards!

Because of Christ’s victory over death through His resurrection, we have victory through Him over our dead pasts (see 1 Cor. 15). We should bury them and leave them in the grave, never to be seen again (see Phil. 3:13-14). Paul said, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God ... Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry ... in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them ... Put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Col. 3:1-3,5,7-10).

Many believers in prisons are twice shackled – first by the walls and wires and second by the old, dirty wrappings of their past sins. Like all believers, we need to take in and enjoy the grace, mercy and love of Christ!

In closing, consider these verses:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” —Galatians 2:20

“Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God.” —Ephesians 5:2

“Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” —Revelation 1:5-6

By Adrian Torres, adapted