The Afterlife

"Belief in an afterlife can make you live longer," one study says. In this same article written by Richard Foot, he says, "Going to church may not guarantee you a heavenly afterlife, but it will help you live longer in the here and now..." What could be any better for you today than to start going to church, if for no other reason than to lengthen your days?

Imagine, just believing in an afterlife can prolong your forelife, so to speak, that life which we live and are cognizant of right this very minute. Furthermore, by attending some church, you can add time to your years on earth. All of this is to say that coming close to heaven while you are on earth adds more living time, for what it is worth.

Dr. Chandrakant Shah, a physician and professor of public health sciences says that 43 000 deaths per year in Canada can be blamed on poor spiritual beliefs. This doctor Shah also says that "...if Canadians attended religous services more frequently, said their prayers more often, or placed more faith in the powers of a celestial creator, they would live longer and healthier lives." In this discovery, it doesn't really matter that you have the eternally correct spiritual beliefs to increase your years, it matters only that you believe in an afterlife, pray, place your faith in a creator, and go to a church regularly. Remember that's for this life. Some sort of spirituality provides some sort of elasticity to this life. So, if you have no eye on eternity, you could turn it toward longevity...and let your soul go where it may.

But, if you want one and one to equal two for you, you can have the best of both worlds: this world and the next. Yes, you can have the best of this life, as well as the best in the afterlife. One only need not only go to a church, say one's prayers, believe in an afterlife and believe in a creator, one can do all the same things plus receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, the son of the Creator who is God. In John 14:6 the Son of God, Jesus, that is, says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." Why not live longer in this life and live in heaven forever in the next life?

Just think of it, not only a longer life worth living, but an afterlife worth living. If you do not procrastinate or put off the big decision, you will be able to compare notes with others in heaven just how you came to Christ. Really, do not be a putter-offer, a postponer, a delayer, an I'll-do-it-later hesitater.

All of this life is but a precursor, a conscious walk into eternity, a split eternity insofar as destination is concerned...one side being hell the other side being heaven. No matter how long your life here is or has been -- whether you are 20, 40, 60, or 80, the length of your life here is but a split second of your time on the stage of eternity. Mark 8:36 says this, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Why don't you do your soul a favor. You have your entire lifetime, whatever time that is to play your part, to act out your inner self, to do good or to do that which is mediocre or to do evil, but you miss it all if you refuse to utter your most important lines. Those lines are: Heavenly Father, I receive your son Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour into my heart. Forgive me for my sins. Help me to repent of my ways which are not your ways. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and show me today in my heart of hearts that I will be with you in the afterlife. In Jesus name. Amen.

Catch the Light