Fear of Death

At the ripe old age of 5 years old, the concept of death hit me. My great-grandmother , whom I was very close to, died suddenly and I was devastated. When she never came back, the finality of death sunk in, and I remember crying for days. From that time on, I had a very hard time with death.

The Bible actually doesn't talk about heaven that much. Jesus said he goes to prepare a place for us, and "in my Father's house are many mansions." His word also mentions streets of gold. We know when the rich man died and was in hell, he looked over the chasm at heaven. He wanted to go tell his brothers back on earth, but was denied the request. There is a lot more said about hell in the Bible than heaven. It says there are fires there and weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus refers to the Gehenna fires, which were the garbage areas outside of town (that we now refer to as the dump) where they burned trash. We know that what happens after we die is for eternity, and there are only two places that a soul goes. It sounds pretty scary...

I've found the closer you get to God, the less scary it becomes. The more you trust God about your life now, the more you trust Him about the hereafter. We're all going to leave this earth some day. And since most Christians believe these are the end times, His children have an excellent chance at being 'raptured.' Jesus said, in the blink of an eye, His children will be snatched up to heaven as Biblical prophecy unfolds.

My concern at this point is that I won't have more time on earth to tell as many people as I can that Jesus can and will save all who desire it. I have family members, friends and acquaintances that I want to spend eternity with. I heard a pastor once say that God didn't create hell for people, but for demons. But He also could foresee the future, and knew when He gave people free will, that many will not choose Him. God is a fair and just God. He's not going to send anyone to hell that doesn't choose that path. He desires that all will repent and live.

I see heaven like a child before opening Christmas presents - with lots of good surprises by his loving parents. His word says, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard," how awesome it will be. So when the final bell rings, you can spend eternity in heaven with your loving Father - it's your choice.
Get ready.