Scared to death

I am going to bare my honest thoughts about a subject we do not normally like to talk about... Death.  You may already be discarding this as morbid, but I hope you will hear me out on this.  Ok, here I am honest.  Death scares me.  It does.  My faith tells me not to be, but I am a lot.  So what do I do?  A habit I have tried to implement in my life is that if something scares me, face it, hit it head on.  The truth is true regardless of my efforts or lack thereof, so if I want any lasting joy I have to deal with things that scare me.  Before I go any further, I am not morbid.  I love life.  I love living.  The fact that I am scared of death points to this.  I also am a christian.  I believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God.  I trust Him to be true.  Yet once again if I am honest, death scares me, and I think it scares all of you too.  

I think there are several reasons for this.  We are sinners.  We know of our very recent sins.  Sin distorts our vision of life and makes things seem dark.  Our conscience also condemns us.   Another reason we fear death is because we have never experienced it, and it doesn't seem pleasant.  We also love our family and friends.  We don't want to leave them or them to leave us.  I am sure there are other reasons I am leaving out.  Here is one though that scares me maybe more than all the rest;  if I were to leave this life right now and enter into eternity, do I really know this Jesus that I am about to see.  I do not mean know the facts about Him, or know what He said.  I mean do I know Him personally, like say the way I know Emily?  Do I really know Him?  These questions are tough.  They are not yes/no answers quick feel better answers.  They are the real life questions, that will truly affect you if you take the time to ask yourself them.  Sure you can push this out of your mind by remembering a past date or past period of time, but the only thing that we have for certain is the present.  This does not make the past unimportant.  It is.  But we live from moment to moment.  From faith to faith as the Bible says.  But now you say, 'great now here I am depressed.  I could have been a lot happier if I wouldn't have read this.  I would have not thought about this dark subject and I wouldn't have these nagging questions about my faith.'  (I am sure this is not the exact response but it sums up the idea)  But let me ask you this,  " Would you rather live in mostly uninterrupted peace here and never be asked difficult questions and find out in the end you never really knew Jesus, or would you rather have your peace interrupted for a period of time to come away with the lasting peace of knowing that you have brought your soul bare before Jesus.  Remember, Jesus never turned away genuine doubters and questioners.  His only requirement is your need of Him.  He did not come to save righteous people.  He came to save sinners and make them righteous.  

I do not want to make anyone have unneeded doubts about their salvation, however some are needed.  Remember, He promised that all who come to Him will not be cast away.  Bring all your questions, doubts, fears, sins, and He will take you in and love you.  I am convicted as I type this, because I have not done this completely lately.  I know when I do He always comforts me and He will comfort you too.  Your doubting will not make Him not real.  Remember that.  He is what He is.  He does not depend on your thoughts.  I don't know exactly why, but thinking about that always brings me comfort.  

In conclusion, Be real.  Be candid.  Be brutally honest with yourself and God.  This really is the only way.  Do not be afraid of bringing Him everything that scares you.  He cares.

Let this sink in  "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares/anxieties on Him for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:6-7)