Life March

Read: 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

In times of great conflicts such as wars, prisoners of wars are taken by the opposing side, putting them in precarious, vulnerable situation. There have been instances when prisoners of wars met their fate in the hands of their captors. One of the ways prisoners of war have been killed is by way of death marches. 

Death marches refers to forced marches of concentration camp prisoners over long distances under guard and in extremely harsh conditions. During death marches, guards brutally mistreat the prisoners and kill many.

One of the most well-known death marches in history is the Bataan Death March wherein thousands of war prisoners perished . After the April 9, 1942 U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II (1939-45), the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards.

It is easy to see that death march equals defeat march.

Don’t you know that we, too, when we were still in our sins, used to march to the drumbeat of the enemy’s lies, deceits, and temptations? We were headed to eternal death and there was nothing we could do on our own to get ourselves off the path of utter destruction.

But praise God because Christ defeated death and put an end to the inescapable death march. The resurrection of Christ is His victory over suffering and death.

Indeed, He triumphed over death! The grave wasn’t able to hold Him back! And now Christ as a victor is now leading us into this life march to eternity. For those who follow Him have been made victorious over death. 

So today I want to remind you that you are on a life march. Christ snatched us from the way of death march and placed us on the path to eternal life. This is true even when you are not in your best days, even when things are hard, it doesn’t change the fact that God has set the course for you that will end in complete triumph and victory. 

Reflect:

Pause and think of your life’s circumstances at the moment. How do they point to the truth that you are on a life march to eternity? Is there any seeming incongruence? How do you reconcile it with the promise of victory and triumph?