pictured: James Bond, trying too hard.

pictured: James Bond, trying too hard.

…

This devotional, should you choose to accept it…wait, wrong franchise.

The devotional’s name is “live twice…you only live twice.”

That’s better.

But while James Bond was very good at his job and able to escape seemingly inescapable predicaments, he never actually “lived twice.” It just seems like he could. He just had a knack for slipping through death’s clutches at the last possible second.

On the other hand, there is a way to ensure that we live after death. There is a way to be certain, no matter how or when death comes, we can live again.

Many people fear death; it’s regularly listed among the top two or three “fears” that affect most people. But why is it so terrifying? Probably people fear death because they haven’t died. Think about it.

The only way to conquer a fear is to face it. How does one conquer his fear of flying? He has to get in that airplane. How does a person defeat his fear of drowning? He has to learn to swim (I should really get around to that). How can we defeat our fear of the monster under the bed? We have to get the flashlight and look!

If you’re afraid of death all you need to do is die! Now to that you might say “Wait a second: the whole point of my fear of death is the fact that I don’t know what it is. It’s the fear of the unknown. It’s the fact that there’s never been anyone I’ve met who can tell me what it’s like…”

And that’s perfectly understandable. You have a fear of the unknown because you have no frame of reference. Yet you can still conquer that fear.

“By dying?!”

By dying the right way. If you die the right way, you’ll not only defeat your fear of death, you’ll live again unafraid of it forever.

What’s the right way to die? Listen to Paul:

 

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Romans 6:1-10

If you’re afraid to die, just die!

Now here’s the catch. Unless Christ returns in our lifetime, everyone is going to die. It’s coming whether you like it or not.

But you can live twice if you die now. Don’t wait to die later, because that death is a separation, not only of body and soul, but also of soul and God.

Die now (to sin) and you won’t fear the day when your soul leaves its body, because when that day comes, your soul will live with its Maker forever and ever.

Have a great day!