Those who believe in God will never die

By Ellen Shuck

Does the thought of dying sound morbid to you? To many, or most perhaps, the fear of leaving this earth is terrifying. I must admit that I've fallen victim to that fear during my life. I later discovered that the more I accepted the reality -- and began to prepare for the state someday -- I felt freer. I could genuinely live knowing my new life would be joyful and wonderful. Rather than living in fear and dread, I could hand it all over to my higher power knowing I would never truly die.

"One fears what he doesn't understand." If you claim the Christian faith, and truly believe in its teachings, you will grow to fear death much less and, many, fear it, not at all.

I adopted a Bible Scripture from John 11:25-26 that is a main staple in my understanding and acceptance of death. It can be a joyful destination if one has built his values and beliefs around God.

The Scripture upon which I build my confidence is this "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. How can anyone genuinely fear the future when he knows, he will never actually die."

It's like the flowers, trees, and other plants -- within a certain time frame -- the plant rejuvenates itself, with a mysterious power and blooms again. This cycle continues over and over. So the bloom must die before it can be replenished with new life and live again. We, too, will be introduced into a new life. One that is eternal.

If one believes in Christ, even though he dies physically, his/her spirit remains alive. Our spirit is the real us. It never disappears, just our bodies. The celebration of Easter is upon us. People are happy and freely renewed because of what happened when Jesus died on the cross for everyone. What greater solace and encouragement can we receive than the knowledge we can live forever, if we chose to believe in God? Our environment will be different according to the choices we make on earth. We will be cursed or blessed.

I recently talked with a young woman, CC, who expressed no interest in obeying rules, any rules, unless they were her rules. She did whatever she thought would work for her in shaping her visualization of what she thought would make her happiest. Constant leisure and popularity were at the top of her list of ingredients in her recipe of her ideal life.

Of course, this type of existence is unacceptable and unworkable in our life, as most know it.

CC continued to fail. She constantly attempted to breeze through, taking little responsibility for anything and avoiding as much unpleasantness as possible. This approach to her attaining a life that would prove adequate and bring a certain degree of confidence and fulfillment never came.

The crux, or tipping point of her situation came when she was forced to attend a treatment facility to correct her skewed view of life. Even there, she tried to bend the rules and act and say what she thought the staff wanted to hear and see. CC, finally, suffered enough beneficial consequences she finally realized there was no way except by abiding by what was expected. She must "die" to her old habits before she could feel free and connected. She doesn't yet recognize she has no choice except to stop her present behaviors and adopt new, acceptable ones if she desires to attain a new life. By dying to what's holding her back she can make space for obedience, forming her new life--both on earth and after. As Jesus said, Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die (John).