Someday, but probably not for a long, long time. Did you know there are two parts to death? First, there is the process of dying. Second, there is the being dead. Maybe you're afraid because you don't know what it's like to be dead. Maybe you're afraid because you know it might hurt to die. Do you know which part you're afraid of?
Some people are afraid of death because they get confused. They get the condition of being dead - of being in heaven with God - all mixed up with the process of dying - of getting to heaven.
Dying is a process, like walking to school. It's something you have to do to get to where you want to be. Sometimes it takes a long time. And most of the time it isn't any fun. But God never told us it would be fun or fast or easy to get to heaven, did he?
Jesus was killed when the ancient Roman and Jewish people crucified him, remember? But because Jesus was God, He knew perfectly well that He had done his job, and He was ready to be what we call dead and what He called going back home to God. Jesus was still scared almost out of His skin - but it wasn't being dead that He was scared of. Jesus was afraid of the dying part - of the process of getting to heaven. That is really pretty scary, because sometimes it does hurt. Jesus knew that. That's why He was scared. And because He loves us, He chose to endure the kind of dying that hurts more than anything else in the world, just so the rest of us would know that no matter how much dying hurts, it's worth going through it so we can get to heaven.
Being dead is something else. It doesn't hurt at all to be dead. Only people who are still here - those of us who haven't done our jobs yet - say that people who are with God are dead people. We think they're dead because we can't walk with them and talk with them any more. Their bodies are buried in the ground, like caterpillars in their cocoons, and we can't see them or smell them or touch them or anything. But the person isn't buried in the ground. He's in heaven with God. We all die - me, you, Grandma, Grandpa - everybody - so we can go to Heaven to be with God.
People in heaven don't have to do their homework or mow the lawn or go to the store or wash the dishes or do any of the stuff we need our bodies to do. So what would we do with our bodies if we did have to cart them along with us? If we took them with us, we'd have to spend a lot of time feeding them and giving them water and letting them sleep and keeping them warm and stuff like that. We'd have to take care of them, just like we do now.
Since we don't have to do in heaven the things we need our bodies for here, our bodies might be a real nuisance, right? So God gives us new bodies that don't need to have their teeth brushed or their faces washed or their tummies fed.
And, since we don't need our old bodies in heaven, we leave them here. The people we leave behind us have to bury or burn our old bodies, because we aren't going to hang around here to take care of them. Nobody else really wants to take care of them, because it it's rather a nasty job to take care of a body that nobody lives in. But God makes sure that even our bodies serve His purposes. All the nutrients in our bodies are returned to the earth so trees and flowers and other things can use them when we're done with them.
So why do you suppose people say that the people who are with God are dead people? Do you think maybe they say that so we won't be jealous? Hmmmm. Maybe people make being dead sound really awful so we'll be so scared of it we won't do the jobs God gave us and then they can go to heaven first.
Some people are afraid of death because it hurts so much when someone they love dies. They think that just because they felt so bad when someone else got to go to heaven, they'll feel just as bad when it's their own turn to go. These people are scared because they don't remember what it was like to be a kid.
Think about how you feel when Daddy goes fishing on Saturdays. Do you feel the same way when you're allowed to go with Daddy as you feel when you are not allowed to go? It hurts a lot more to be left behind, doesn't it? And some people are very much afraid of feeling like that.
Some people are afraid because they think there isn't any heaven to go to, so that when they die, they think they will be buried in the ground right along with their bodies. But even if that were true, being dead wouldn't be any worse than being asleep. They would just sleep forever, and wouldn't have any more problems. What's so scary about that? To be honest, sometimes all mommies think they would like a chance to sleep for at least a year! But still, some people really are afraid of what they call the long sleep.
Some people even think that we are our bodies, that there isn't a soul inside our bodies. They think that everything we think, everything we feel, everything we want or hope for or dream of is just a chemical reaction of some kind, or an electrical charge somewhere in our brains. Scientific evidence proves it, so some people think we don't have souls.
Well, God doesn't stand around all day telling us what to think and feel and want and do and hope for and get mad about and stuff like that. He has people and animals and plants and planets and stars and lots of other things to love and take care of, and it would be a waste of his time to spend it all in bossing us around. So all these chemicals and electrical charges and stuff are built into our brains and fueled by the sun and the water we drink and the food we eat so that our bodies and brains will do what they have to do long enough for us to do our jobs. Science will someday understand how it all works, but right now, it's pretty much a puzzle.
But since we are created in God's image, and since we know God doesn't have a body or a brain or a liver or anything like that, we know it is some other part of us that is created in God's image. That part is our soul - and science will never find it in a million years, because it is specially reserved for our relationship with God.
You see, the biggest reason people are afraid of being dead is that nobody really knows what it's like to be dead, or what it's like to not exist or what it's like to be in heaven. Even some people who say they love God are afraid, because they don't know what being dead is like.
But look: When we come downstairs on Christmas morning, and we find all the packages under the tree, we aren't afraid of them, are we? No! We're excited! We can hardly wait to open the packages. Why can't we wait? Do we know what is in the packages? No! Then how do we know we're going to like what we find? We know because we love and trust each other. We love each other enough to give presents that will please whomever we give them to, and we trust each other enough to expect good things from whoever is giving a present to us.
And when we get a present we really wanted that we didn't expect to get, we're surprised and happy. Well, whatever happens to us in heaven will be a surprise, because we won't know what it is until we get there. And when we love God, and know He loves us, doesn't it make sense to trust Him to give us a good surprise? One that will make us all excited and happy, because as soon as we see it, we'll know it's what we really wanted? If we trust God to give us a nice surprise when we die, we have nothing to be afraid of.
Now, what do you think? Do you think you're afraid of being dead, or do you think you're afraid of the pain of dying, or do you think you're afraid of being left behind when someone you love dies? It's still a hard question, isn't it?
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