“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The word I have spoken to you – they are full of the Spirit and life.” (John 6:63, NIV)

So many are afraid of death. Is that the end? Will anyone ever remember me?

Too often we put our bodies and our health above anything else. It’s good to take care of ourselves, and there are many important things we can do to add a few years to our lives; yet eventually we all pass away. What happens then to the body we took so much care to preserve? It will disappear completely.

Most of us don’t even want to think about this, and I understand completely. We need to remember, though, that: “The Spirit gives life.” Life is possible solely through the Holy Spirit.

Interestingly enough, burial shows that death leads to life. Take, for example, the caterpillar…

The caterpillar crawls slowly along, eating non-stop. Then, suddenly, when all things seem to be going so well, the caterpillar’s life changes dramatically. He seems to die, and he end up completely surrounded by what must seem like a coffin to him: His cocoon.

When the time is right, however, that caterpillar wakes up, emerges from this “coffin”, and…It has become a beautiful butterfly. It is now what it was created to be. It has finally reached its full potential. If this were to happen to me, I would be excited: “Look I can fly. Wow!”

It is interesting to realize that without this “death”, the caterpillar would never be able to reach its full potential…

Here is a Biblical example of the same concept: “Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of what. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over.” (John 12:24 MSG). The grain of wheat reaches his potential only when it dies, when his time has come.

Jesus continues: “…in the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life but if you let it go, reckless in your life, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.” (John 12:25, MSG).

We have nothing to be afraid of when we are in Christ. Instead, let’s be excited about the concept of going to see Jesus, the One who brought us salvation.

The Bible declares: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sub and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, NIV). We have nothing to worry about: “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. Bit if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sub, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your moral bodies because of His Spirit lives in you.” (Romans 8:9-11, NIV)

I was beside my mom, holding her hand, when she passed away last February. She looked so peaceful. We knew that she was sure of where she was heading. It was a beautiful time, one that I will never forget it. We knew she was listening as my wife and I talked to her about Heaven. As her breathing slowed, we said to her, “Maman, follow the light!” A faint smile flickered across her face then and her body relaxed. Then she was gone. She died in total peace, for she was happy to be in the presence of her Heavenly Father. Even in death we have nothing to worry about. As long as we know the Lord, we can face this fact of life with excitement.

In Philippians 1:21-23, Paul shares with us: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me yet what shall I choose? I don’t know! I am turn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”

Why be afraid? Our Father loves us!

Rob Chaffart