When We Get Older Do We Prepare for Life or Death?

[HKHaugan]

Is your insurance paid up? Is your will up to date? Are your affairs in order? These are questions that every older person is asked or asks themselves. Of course there are always those who take the Scarlett O’Hara approach, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” I maintain that as believers we need to start from childhood with our families and say what we are really about and that is life. We are not waiting until we get old motivated by the idea we are preparing for death. Rather our task is to prepare for life, eternal life, life with God. That is not just for the distant future. It’s for the present which is the near future, the ‘right now’, our every next moment. For who knows the end of their earthly moments? One thing we do know is that there is a beginning and an end in this world. Eternity awaits everyone and where in eternity will we be in regard to Heaven and hell?

Jesus is very clear about this issue when He states the purpose of His mission, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (Jn.10:10)” every next moment in this world. When He talks about believing in Him this is what guarantees our eternal life (Jn.3:16). With these two guarantees it is quite evident we are not preparing for death but for life on earth and in eternity. Sinners prepare for death. Disciples prepare for life.

How do we prepare for life on both levels? The obvious answer is that it begins with believing Jesus’ offer of spiritual life for this world and eternity through faith in Him. Secondly, it means following Him by identifying Him in the Scripture, taking in what He says and being aware of the Holy Spirit who is the life we are preparing for. Thirdly, it means displacing our self-centeredness with Jesus-centeredness, Jesus-consciousness and letting the Holy Spirit guide our every next moment.

This is where the Cross comes in. When Jesus tells us we have to take up our cross and follow Him it means we are preparing for life by crucifying the sinful motivation that brings death and experiencing the work of the Spirit in our every next moment. The vertical beam of the Cross is the vertical beam of faith reaching up to Jesus and down to the ground of our conscious surroundings as we move through the relationships that make up our moments. Trusting Scripture is the visible vertical beam as is our faithful action stemming from it.

The horizontal beam is taking the same belief, trust and faith in all our interpersonal activity. Preparing for life takes the Cross. Just as Jesus died so He rose to prove that the way of the Cross brings His Resurrection life into this world, the same life that never ends in His presence forever. When we see life from this perspective we can’t help but realize we are preparing for life not death because of the experiences, the insights, the wisdom, the reactions we receive and the desire to get more and more involved.

We cannot emphasize enough the need for prayer to let the Scripture come alive in our minds and hearts. Scripture is the one channel the Lord has provided to guarantee our mind is on the right track when our hearts and spirits need to be informed and motivated. Apart from Scripture we are vulnerable to the temptation to think we can deduce and operate apart from God. Personal spiritual experiences not validated by Scripture have only one source and that is the devil. Any attempt to discern apart from God’s provision leads to trouble as can be seen in those denominations whose leadership has been compromised by their perceived need to maintain power, the Pharisaic problem and the problem of anyone who thinks they can think function apart from God.

The place to start with life preparation is with our attitude. Knowing Jesus is the way, the truth and the life gives us the positive assurance that we are already alive and kicking, equipped and ready, to face our future no matter what it brings. The Gospels show us where we can get direct spiritual insight into life in Jesus. Jesus, God in the flesh, reacted to situations in which human attitude reflects the heart in action. His attitude is the pure and perfect attitude giving an inner view of God’s heart. As we prepare to live it is how Jesus lived in thought, attitude and spirit that illustrate the presence of eternal life, the life He offers us, the life we have in our born again spiritual reality.

We will pursue this in the next postings.