All in Living
Death, is it something we fear? As Christians we do not fear death because we know that our lives, which have been well spent in Christ, mean that we will find eternity following our final exhale on this earth. What most Christians fear is not death at all, but the dying; the sudden separation from earthly loved ones, the pain involved in dying, and leaving behind all that we have known. We fear that final step forward by faith into what we have not yet experienced.
Whether you are a believer or not, rest assured that this world will come to an end, and for those of faith... you will meet God face to face. So how do we prepare ourselves for this meeting? Should we be perfect in our recitation of scripture, or study diligently the nuances of faith? No, any scholar can do such; we should be doing those things we read, and are told by God... we should live holy lives, and conduct ourselves in a godly manner.
We begin our journey with Jesus by believing in God because if we have no faith in the Father then how could we possibly believe in His Son? Then, as our faith in God increases, and we believe the scripture is His Word regarding our existence with Him, we see the prophesy of the coming Messiah and find the promise of Christ. Every Jew in the day of Jesus made it this far, but it is here that they were separated; some believing that the scriptures were alive, and some that they were at best stagnant, and that they would remain in eternal expectation of a Messiah who, although prophesied, would never be accepted by them to have come. In what state is your faith? How far has your belief come? Where is it going?
Do you dwell on who Jesus Christ is? When asked about Him do you tell of what He did, how He redeemed you, and taught you things like loving your neighbor as yourself? These things are all true, but do you also tell them that He is the jar that holds the essence of your life, the container in which you dwell? Do you reveal to them that He has so changed you that He has become engrained in your very DNA; so completely intertwined that to extract Him would certainly certainly destroy you? If you can tell them this, then your faith has become the fullness of Christ, and you are no longer about Christ, but in Him.