1

Life Insurance 

By Jenniffer Mann

As I sat in my car, watching the world pass me by through the pearls of rain on the windscreen, a young couple in their early 20s caught my attention. Completely oblivious of the traffic and the honking horns of disgruntled drivers impatient to reach their destination, the pair frolicked carelessly on the pavement. Not even the ominous looking clouds threatened to interrupt their flirtations.  I smiled at their happiness then sighed, as I resigned myself to the fact that I would not be reaching home anytime soon. 

Gazing into the endless line of cars ahead, I turned my mind to the conversation I had with a friend a few hours before. I had recoiled in disbelief, as she told me how someone known to the both of us, had just lost her husband. Far too young to be a widow, her situation was compounded with the heavy responsibility of bringing up three young children alone. Not at all unusual as a housewife, the family had been totally reliant on her husbands income.  The sense of loss intensified in the seemingly grim reality, that no provision had been made for them after his death. Unfortunately, this is a scenario I have heard more than once in recent times.

Amidst all the decisions we make about life, we rarely make preparation for the end during our younger years. At this point our thoughts are very linear. Education, career, dating, marriage, children, (not necessarily in that order) and towards the end of that line, much later in life, we might give consideration to preparing for our demise. We also live in a society that for the most part, denies the existence of death and for many people, the thought of death evokes feelings of fear, anxiety and even depression. For this reason, death is something we are taught to avoid and not focus on.

Psychologist Steve Taylor, Ph.D. (a senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Metropolitan University) interviewed many people for his book about death and concluded that contemplating our own mortality can have a “powerful, positive effect”, many who explored the concept of death, either through their own personal experience or those of others, discovered a completely new enjoyment for life. They stopped taking aspects of their life for granted and developed a new appreciation for family, friends and the world around them.  He later goes on to say that many people experienced a sense of letting go, not being concerned about what others thought about them, their careers, material possessions or status.

What struck me on concluding the article is that the neither the writer, nor his subjects for all their contemplation about death, made any reference to what comes after deathThe article very much focuses on what life has to offer in the present day and a future limited to this world. However, there are a lot of people who question what life after death looks like and many more who question the divinity of Jesus. In fact, the question of what happens after death has existed since the beginning of time and been the subject of many films and books.

Yet, rather than focus on life after death, Jesus teachings in the New Testament focus on eternal life, the preparation for which does not start when we die, but now! On a number of different occasions people approached Jesus and asked what they had to do to gain eternal life.

One of these people can be found in the gospel of Matthew 19:16-25. A rich young man wants to know how he can gain eternal life. He walks away when Jesus tells him that he would need to sell everything he owns and follow him but the rich young man is fully attached to his material possessions and misses the point of being truly rich in a life with Jesus.

In another encounter, this time from the gospel of Luke 10:25-37, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ After some discussion, Jesus told the man the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ – teaching that love and acceptance for all people is at the heart of what it means to have eternal life.

Later in the book of Acts when the Apostle Paul was asked ‘What must I do to be saved?’ The answer was very simple ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ (Acts 16:30-33)

Now those of us who are wise, do not wait until our twilight years before purchasing life insurance, because we understand that our time in this life carries no guarantees. In fact, the one thing we can say with certainty is that we will face death and so prepare by ensuring our loved ones are taken of. However, the life insurance premium or “Death benefit” does not benefit us personally but those we name on our policy.

The premium from taking out a Life insurance policy with Jesus, is eternal life! That payout is yours and you will directly reap the benefit!  The terms on your life insurance policy written by Jesus state, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.’

Unlike insurance policies which actively fund ways not to payout, your life insurance policy with Jesus comes with a lifetime guarantee. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also…” (John 14:1-3)

The caveat however, is the same as taking out your life insurance policy with Aviva or Legal & General, you need to make that commitment before death and be paying into your policy, to be rewarded on death.

As you go through this week, think about what preparations you have made for life beyond death and consider a life insurance policy with Jesus.

Let’s Pray

Dear Jesus, please help me to understand and believe in you and your promises that I will have the assurance of eternal life. Amen

This Week’s Song of Encouragement

Comment(1)

  1. Pastor says:

    Again Powerful. Lord help me to to keep my life insurance relevant and up-to-date.