Life From The Dead
By Peter Caligiuri
He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. Matthew 28:6 NLT
One day as I was driving home from work, I spotted a little turtle crawling across the road. “What a great thing to show our boys!” I thought as I pulled over. Seeing he was just a simple box turtle I hoped we could keep him for a pet, so I scooped picked him up and gently placed him on the passenger seat, where he sat quietly as I drove home.
As I walked in the door that afternoon our two young sons rushed over to see what I was holding. They were so excited to see our turtle friend and quickly made up a box for him to stay, complete with water and grass. But sadly, Mr. Turtle wasn’t happy with his cardboard home and He wouldn’t eat or drink anything that day. Two days passed and he continued to simply hide in his shell. Having barely moved for 48 hours, my wife and I sadly explained to our boys that Mr. Turtle was sick and needed to be set free. So, the boys held the little box our little friend was living in between them as we drove to the outskirts of town, towards the spot where I had found him. The boys were quite somber as we pulled over and parked. Together we gently took our friend out of his box and put him on the ground. At first he remained motionless and I began to wonder if he had died. But as we backed away, we saw him slowly easing first one foot, then the other out of his shell. Finally he poked out his head, looked back at us and then raced away as fast as his stubby legs could carry him! Mr. Turtle’s surprising ending reminded me of another story. That sunset as they buried Jesus his friends wept and walked away without hope. But just as with Mr. Turtle, that was not the end of His story. Because, just three days later Jesus sat up, then placed first one foot and then the other on the ground. Then early on that first Easter morning He walked out of that grave to bring us life from the dead in Him!
__________
Peter Caligiuri has been writing since he was a teen-ager. Both short poems and devotionals have appeared in various periodicals such Secret Place, Breakthrough Intercessor and The Upper Room. Peter holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education/English from Western Connecticut State College as well as having attended Elim Bible College. He is now retired and lives with his wife Nancy in New Port Richey, Florida where they are members of Generations Christian Church. Together they have two awesome sons, six lively grandsons and one very special granddaughter!
Photo published with permission.
0 Comments