Mortality and Eternal Life

We all lose friends, even when we’re young. One childhood friend of mine died at nineteen in a motorcycle accident, another of a drug overdose. In the last few months, I’ve lost another close friend from high school days to cancer. We are all constantly reminded of our mortality.
Another friend passed not long ago, but this one was in his mid-90s. The memorial service was beautiful with one testimony after another of how this gentleman and his widow impacted lives. One young woman had been a foster child in their home. She had only been with them for a few months, but stayed in touch for years after.
“He looked at me. He got me. He said ‘I love you’. He said ‘I believe in you’.” Those things changed her life. She knew, no matter what she went through – and she went through a lot – she could always go back “home” to him and know he would love her no matter what she’d done or been through.
As I sat there listening with tears in my eyes, I thought this wonderful gentleman had lived a full, rich, Christ-centered life. He loved the Lord and lived out Christ-like faith with everyone, family, friends, strangers. And they responded.
Oh, how we all need that kind of love. We yearn for it all our lives.
And God sees us and knows our need for love. He responds. He knows everything about us, from the worst thought to the worst deed, and loves us in spite of ourselves. His love can reclaim, cleanse and transform lives. He “gets” us. No one else will ever understand us better than the One who created us, who knows everything about us. His love is unfailing and everlasting. He reaches out with nail-scarred hands to the lost and offers them life.
The vast majority resist knowing Him. But some of us hit rock bottom and look up, hungry and thirsty enough to investigate honestly and find the answer to who we are and why we’re here.
We all seem to know instinctively that this life isn’t all there is. We know we were not meant be held forever prisoner in these imperfect bodies that break down and betray us more with each passing year. God created us for immortality. Right from the beginning, He gave us a choice of where and how we wanted to live. Believe Him and live in Paradise forever. Believe Satan and live outside the garden.
Every human being on the planet faces the same choice today. What choice will you make?