I’ve just started reading the book, How Not to Die, by Michael Greger, MD, the founder of NutritionFacts.org. It’s a terrific book about how, with simple lifestyle changes, we can significantly decrease our risk from dying of the fifteen leading causes of premature death.
As I was reading the title it dawned on me it was a little misleading. Although it is true we can prolong our lives by the lifestyle choices we make, no matter how well we live we all will eventually die.
We all know our time is coming, As Ecclesiates 9:5 reminds us, “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.”
There is good news, however. Do you want to really know “How Not to Die”? Then open the Bible, the original survival manual. In its pages you will meet Jesus, “the resurrection and the life.” Believe on His name and you “will live, even though [you] die.” John 11:25
For the person who has given their heart to Jesus, death is not something to be feared. It is just a rest stop on our journey to heaven. The apostle John celebrated this fact in Revelation 14:13 when he said, “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’ ”
The dear ones we have lost along the way, like my little brother, sleep peacefully in the grave, awaiting Jesus’ return. They feel no pain, know no heartache, shed no tears. They are just asleep, awaiting that glorious day when “…the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
That will be so amazing, but it gets better! “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
Never again will we have to say goodbye to a father or son or daughter, for “God shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Soon, very soon, “…as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Matthew 24:27. On that day we will no longer need to read about “How Not to Die”, because Jesus has promised, “whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
Do you believe this? Then “encourage one another with these words” and share them with a friend right now.