Dying… Easier Than Living? That can’t be true, can it?
Dying is something that many people fear.
Death is personified as a frightening grim reaper.
So how can death be easier than life?
For a Christian, death is not only easier than living… it is better than living.
Death is better than living?
Paul tells us – To Live is Christ, And To Die is Gain.
He says – death is very much better than life because it means I get to go and be with Christ forever. But if God has me staying here, then I know I have work to do for Him… to share Christ with more people and disciple them.
But if we have to stay on in this “fallen world,” then there will be difficulties, there will be trials, there will be temptations. These things can make living seem like a difficult prospect.
Jesus tells us that in to become a follower of His, you must lose your life… you must die to self.
To lose my life for Christ means that I make a decision to refuse to reject and renounce Christ, even if that means that I might face the punishment of death. And honestly, in many ways it would be easier to die as a martyr than to live for Christ in the way that He expects and requires. “Going out in a blaze of glory” for Him could be noble and heroic. People would write about me and my faith. I would be inspiration for others. But living for Him day in and day out. Living for Him in the midst of the trials and temptations I face doesn’t seem particularly heroic, and it sure can seem tough.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Jesus demands loyalty to Him over our family. Not only does He demand loyalty over family, he also demands loyalty over self and over every part of our lives. The more we love this life and its rewards (leisure, power, popularity, financial security), the more we will discover how empty they really are. The best way to “find” real life, then, is to loosen our grasp on earthly rewards so that we can be free to follow Christ. We must risk pain, discomfort, conflict, and stress. We must acknowledge Christ’s claim over our plans, our dreams, & our careers.
Matthew Henry stated it this way:
“Now thus the terms are settled; if religion be worth any thing, it is worth every thing: and, therefore, all who believe the truth of it, will soon come up to the price of it; and they who make it their business and bliss, will make every thing else to yield to it. Those who do not like Christ on these terms, may leave him at their own peril.”
I believe that Jesus is worth every thing.
I believe He is worth my very life.