Learning To Die (Part 2) - Death, end or beginning?

In order for anything to live, something must die. It is a law of nature. We all must eat to survive. We eat things, in most cases, that are or were at one time, alive. Their life was transferred to us to continue our life. In order for me to live, something somewhere must die. It is a picture of the process that God is taking us through. In order for me to live eternally, something must die. In ancient times, the lamb was slaughtered to represent this in the spiritual realm. Jesus came and died on the cross for our sins. While Jesus was on earth, He told us to lay our lives down. Why? The answer is all around us. For something to live, something else must die.

When we eat meat or vegetables, we do not consider the sacrifice of the animal or plant we are consuming. Why? Because they did not give their lives, we took their lives from them. Thus their death was not sacrificial. We took their lives to sustain our own. There is something truly special about anyone or anything putting it’s life up as a sacrifice. Animals will struggle to survive. They will eat other animals or plants to do so. Plants strain to find the sun and consume the nutrients of the soil to live (nutrients that are from other things that have died). No where in nature will you find living things lining up to be consumed. It is a high calling indeed that causes us to lay down our own lives. This is not a natural occurrence and goes against the flow. Why then is it so important?

I believe it is a battle, setup by God, between the flesh and our soul. The outcome will determine if we are fit for the kingdom of God. If we lay down our lives, we will be with Him in eternity. If we hold on tight to our lives, we will lose what we so dearly love.

Tune in next week for the thrid and final installment of Learning To Die.