Reflect on the following:

What would you be willing to do or sacrifice if it meant having the cure for death? The shadow of death looms over all our lives - rich or poor, young or old. It is the great inescapable equaliser that cuts across nationality, social status, physical ability, gender, sexuality, and belief.

It is therefore not surprising that the pursuit of everlasting life has been a perennial quest over the millennia. The Times Magazine article Extreme Ways Man Has Tried to Cheat Death (2017) gives the entertaining highlight reel of 3500 years of immortality seeking including drinking the blood of young men, sleeping next to young women, eating monkey brains, and transplanting animal testicles into men. The quest continues today with longevity research and trends such as drinking alkaline water, intermittent fasting and stem cell injections - not to mention the multi-billion dollar beauty industry with its anti-aging agenda.

There is one ancient tradition that promises eternal life that has endured over the centuries and is practised by over 2 billion people today - faith in Jesus. As that famous Bible verse goes:

“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

In contrast to all the time, money and effort we put into evading death this seems a simple fix. Trusting in Jesus and his sacrifice is the cure for death we are all seeking. Of course we will still age and die physically but after this death we are promised resurrection and eternal life. Death, the Bible explains, is the consequence of sin; Jesus Christ and the sacrifice of his sinless life, is the remedy to sin and therefore death.

What an amazing cure! It doesn’t require our effort or sacrifice. We don’t have to drink young men’s blood or diet and exercise our way to immortality, simply trust Jesus. Perhaps it sounds too good to be true. Perhaps it’s a hard pill to swallow for another reason. Giving up on our own efforts, trusting another rather than ourselves, is a humbling experience. Faith, belief, trust, all mean dependence and that is not a popular attitude in our hyper-individualistic, pro-independent society.

But when it comes down to it, who is more trustworthy? Who is more reliable to depend on? Ourselves, with perhaps a few decades of life experience? Or the eternal God who created all things, knows all things, can do all things and loves us beyond understanding?

Will you humble yourself to accept Jesus as the cure for death for you? Or will you continue to strive for immortality yourself?

PRAYER: Dear God, I accept I cannot escape death on my own. I accept the amazing gift of eternal life you offer me through Jesus. May I humble myself before you and depend on you in my life. Amen