Am I scared to die? I can honestly say that I am not afraid of dying. As a pilot, I would have found flying very difficult if I was afraid of death, much less putting on my seatbelt and driving down the street in a car—which is way more dangerous than flying.
The Bible informs my decision on this question and it says that if I say that Jesus is Lord (and I have) and if I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead (and I do), then I become a Christ follower. And Christ followers are promised a life beyond the grave. I don’t know what death will look like for me, or my wife or family for that matter. I only know what awaits me after death, and that is eternal life in my heavenly home.
These promises are well-documented in the Bible. Of course, no one who is alive today can know for sure how all of that will come about. I suppose that’s where faith comes in. But I claim the promises as my own. So, while I respect death and everyone’s ultimate end of life scenarios, I don’t fear it.
Think of it this way. Before a baby is born, he is safe and warm and fed and protected in his mother’s womb. At birth, the baby experiences the harsher environment of this world. It’s cold, and noisy, and suddenly the baby cries and is unsure of its surroundings. The baby may at times be fearful. But soon, the baby becomes accustomed to this new life on Earth and gets used to being able to move about, and know his mother’s embrace, and then growth. With growth comes friends, and ice cream, and all of the goodness this world has to offer.
Then, this human being grows older. Life becomes harder. Especially if there’s an illness with pain, the old person begins to grow fearful of the future and the end of life. And yet, as a Christ follower, when that person dies and enters God’s wider reality known as heaven, he’ll look back on where he came from and wonder why he was ever fearful. Much like that newborn baby when he entered his earthly world, he’ll realize that this new place called heaven isn’t death at all; but, it is really life.
Millions of people throughout all of history have asked this question, and if you have, you are not alone in doing so. But the reality is that if you are a Christ follower, you are never alone, and as much as God doesn’t want you to be fearful, He also doesn’t want you to miss out on heaven either. He loves us, and He wants us to know that love so real that it would be as if He’s standing right beside you along the road of your life. That’s because, He is right beside you at Easter time and every day of the year.
Even now.
Thanks for reading.