Why should I believe?
A lot of people don't seem to realize who God is and how He holds the power of life and death. For that matter, people don't seem to realize the value of life anyway, and apparently misjudge the matter of death. We should spend our whole lives working to help people so that, at the critical moment of death, we are welcomed into eternal life with Christ. Our lives are truly a mystery, since we have a physical body but have a spiritual dimension which is eternal. The body withers and dies, but the mind crosses over into an eternal state we cannot imagine. The problem is, people really don't know or don't understand the fullness of what's at stake. If we end up going to Hell, then this life of ours is a complete waste. All things wear out for some strange reason we do not understand, including our human bodies, wonderfully made though they may be. We've got to focus our lives on what's really important and not worry about ourselves. The purpose of our living here on Earth is to test us for the Kingdom to come and also give us a chance to touch others around us with our lives.
Absolute power is in His hands; there is nowhere else we can turn to. When we are young and strong and free, life is an assumption we have in our grasp. But, as we grow older, that assumption is challenged more and more. We begin to realize that we need to think of the future beyond this life. This is built into us-we want to live and are meant for life, for continuation of our consciousness. But living up till now has given us a history, one that we cannot change. This history has places in it which we would rather not be known. We would like-a clear conscience for life eternal.
Part of this is looking back and having done something worthwhile for other people. It makes us feel good about ourselves to have done something for others, but all too often, there are so few things we have done for others. It makes us realize that, while we are still alive, this is our opportunity to help others in a significant way. Jesus Himself pointed this out in the parable of the rich man and the storage barns when He said "build up riches in Heaven.' And once we're in Heaven, all the little problems of this Earth will certainly seem so insignificant compared to the glory and joy we experience in being with God.
The problem is, the things we do on Earth affect whether or not we will be accepted into Heaven. So what we do while on Earth makes a huge difference even though what we are now makes no difference at all when Eternity is in the balance.
Yes, death is a great barrier which is going to be difficult to face without someone with us-someone who's been there before and crossed it successfully.
And yet, there are things that we might do while still on this Earth which could jeopardize that crossing. Wouldn't it be best if we avoided all such things and lived lives as true as possible to truth and holiness? To have thought of others first instead of ourselves?
I am convinced that none of us knows anything at all about the next life. We can't understand or imagine anything about Heaven, either. How could we possibly know, or even guess, what Heaven is like. But if we had any idea of what heaven is like, we would surely strive for it with great hope. We wouldn't take chances with our eternal life. We would surely want to know that what we're doing now has a great effect on what eternity will be like for us.