The boys and I have a favorite book called Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. The theme of the story is a mother that watches her sweet little boy grow up, and always sings the song 'I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.' It's become our little thing to always tell each 'I love you forever!' Yesterday I was walking with Daniel, and I was carrying him. I told him that I loved him forever, he replied with, 'No, I love YOU forever!'. It then really hit him what that really could mean.
Forever is forever. Never ending. All eternity. The only way to live for all eternity is to accept and know Jesus Christ as your savior. This overwhelming feeling came over me to think of these implications. I know that Craig and I have accepted Christ, and that we will indeed get to live in heaven for all eternity, and now we have this absolutely responsibility to raise our children in Christ and in a Godly fashion. So when I tell my babies that I love them forever, I truly will in fact get to love them forever. And they are not my babies as long as I'm living, but in fact my babies forever.
I was overwhelmed with feelings of happiness of knowing that I get forever with my husband and children, but also burdened thinking about those that don't have this certainty. I couldn't imagine living my life not knowing what would happen when we passed from this life or not knowing what would happen to my children. This is a matter of life and death.
Hebrews 9:26-28 says If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
Ephesians 2:8-10 says For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ------ We can't claim that we will get to go to heaven because we are "good people", it doesn't work that way. Romans 3:23 says that for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We need a savior. None of us are good enough to get into heaven on our own merits, we need the grace and salvation from Christ.
John 5:24 says "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my work and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." ----- If we don't accept Jesus Christ as the son of God, sent to save us from our sins, we are destined for death for all eternity. But we get life by accepting him.
This is a matter for life and death, forever. Once we're gone, there is no changing our decision to then accept Christ. We have to make this decision while we are living. I truly urge you, if you don't know where you will live forever after you pass from this earthly life, you need to seek out the truth now. No one is guaranteed tomorrow, so don't wait. Call me, email me, seek out a trusted friend, read the book of John in the Bible, to start (if you don't have a bible, you can find this online) do something, anything to know 100% what will happen to you when you die.
I can't imagine not living with Christ in my life. It's this relationship that is above all relationships, it's a deeper love than any human person can give you. It's hope, love, joy, peace, comfort like you'll never experience anywhere else. Don't wait and don't live life in anxiety, uncertainty, insecurity, helpless. There is hope. There is life, forever. Seek answers please. Your life depends on it.
