Dying to live

Life is precious. No matter who you are, where you were born or what you have done. Your life is precious. It matters. All lives matter. God is the creator of life, He breathed into Adam the “breath of life”. All that God creates is good and therefore, life is precious. The life of Jesus is precious to all who have faith in Him and call upon His Holy name. HIs blood is precious. 1 Peter1:19 explains that only by His precious blood sacrifice can a man be redeemed and justified. Precious life has been seen, lately, in the faces of the beautiful newborns recently added to our assembly. Watching those little hands and feet squirm around in their car seats, we push away the blankets and the baby wraps to find buried within an innocent, sweet, perfect face of an infant affirming just how beautiful and valuable life is. Of course, on the other end of the spectrum , when death is near, we are reminded of how we cling to that precious life and grieve when it is lost. Recently, more than a few funerals have taken place close to home. Tears are shed, hearts are heavy and the sense of great loss and loneliness overwhelms. It is in this state of affairs that Jesus speaks with Mary and Martha who are grieving at the funeral of their beloved brother. These words, recorded in John 11:25, are meant to comfort and give hope. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.” Wow!! Can it be?? Jesus is promising Life after Death?? Of course He is, that is what the entire Gospel message is focused on! However, this promise of Life Jesus made is conditional. “He that BELIEVES in Me shall live even if he dies”. To believe in Jesus is to believe in everything He taught, everything He did, and everything He wants us to do. Faith in Christ must be evident in the way we live our lives. It is not enough to simply say, “I believe in Jesus”. A broken, repentant heart, a transformed life, and a desire to serve Him in His kingdom will be evident by our actions. We work and serve, sacrifice and praise all from a heart of worship. We bow before the Lord God Almighty and adore Him looking forward to the day we die and our earthly tent is torn down. Why would we do this?? Because, as Jesus promised, “he that believes in Me shall live even if he dies”. The death of our mortal bodies will happen, to every person, eventually. The comfort given by Jesus is to focus our hope and trust in God through His word, believe in Him, and physical death becomes the moment when we enter into the presence of God for eternity. We shall never die!! We shall never be separated from God! ! So, live your life every day hoping for the coming of Christ, longing for the day when your eternal life begins and you will truly be delivered from the burdens of this world. The question is, “Do you believe this?”