January 7, 2009
As my sixty-fifth birthday neared, it was time to make a decision about Medicare supplements. A one o’clock appointment with an agent would explain the different plans and answer any
questions.
Larry was well-informed and experienced. I made my decision and enrolled in the same plan that he had selected for himself when he turns sixty-five. “I do have another question,” I broached as the conference ended. “I would like to ask you a question somewhat related. Have you ever heard of Eternal Life Insurance?”
Larry thoughtfully shook his head. “No”; he hadn’t.
“You so kindly have taken the time to explain the benefits of Medicare coverage with a supplement, which may last twenty or thirty years, or more. Coverage for the next three hundred years or three thousand years—or what we call ‘eternity,’ a far longer
time-span than a few years, would be even more important and is available.”
He agreed about the wisdom of having eternity insurance and asked, “Just how does one go about it?”
“Well, an official in Bible times, a man named Nicodemus asked Jesus how a person can get to Heaven; Jesus answered him. His answer is recorded for us to read.”
Larry asked me to show to him the passage. For the next hour, we read Scripture in John chapters 3 and 1. He was concerned about just how one believed “in” and “on,” rather than just “about.” We read carefully the following passages:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16); Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (John 3:18); Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:3); and finally, But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).
When we ask God, “believing in His name,” we do become a child of God.
“Just as with the Medicare supplement, knowing about the medical plan wasn’t enough; I had to put my signature on the line and become enrolled. Knowing about God isn’t enough, we have to personally make a commitment. Instead of my signature, I need Jesus Christ’s blood signature to enroll me into the Family of God.” Seeing the light of understanding reflected across Larry’s face, I asked him, “Where do you feel you are in your spiritual life journey?
Do you consider yourself in the before birth, at birth or after birth stage?”
Larry paused, “Earlier, I would have said after birth, but now I think I am at birth,” he answered with a hint of bewilderment.
“In that case, let’s pray,” I suggested. First I prayed, then Larry. After he had finished, he exclaimed, “I did it.”
Desiring to hear Larry express his new found faith, I inquired, “What just happened here?”
He blinked back tears and swallowed hard, “I just received the blood coverage for my sin; I now have Eternal Life.” Since my husband had been in and out of the room as we had talked, I asked Larry to tell James what he had just done, and he did. It is wise to have insurance, but it is far wiser to have eternal life assurance.
