You have probably heard the expressions, “I am dying to see you”; “I was just dying to get there”; or “I was just dying to get out of there.”
Those expressions prompted me to evaluate how I live my life. Here is the question that came to me: Am I “dying to live” or am I “living to die?” I would like to share with you how I answered that question. First, let us look at what the Apostle Paul and Jesus had to say about dying.
The Apostle Paul had a lot to say about dying. He said, “I die daily.” 1 Corinthians 15:31: “I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” He went on to say in Romans 6:11: “Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” He said in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me ...”
He went on to say that he was a living sacrifice, and that he was taken down into the likeness of Christ’s death, and up in the newness of his life. Jesus tells us that if we want to find our life, we need to lose it. Matthews 16:25: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Jesus also said in Luke 9:23: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” We all know the cross is a place of death.
After reading these scriptures, I can truly say, as a Christian, I am “dying to live.”
The paradox to that statement is, now that I am “dying to live,” I have absolutely no fear of dying. When I was “living to die,” the fear of death plagued me. When I was “living to die,” I had no idea what would happen to me when I died. I had no rest. Now that I am “dying to live,” I know that I will die once (Hebrews 9:27) and then go to be with the Lord forever.
Jesus promised me that in the most familiar scripture in the Bible. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” He also said in John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
That is the truth that I was “dying to hear.” I did not need A truth, I needed THE truth. Jesus IS that truth. John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life ...”
Again, please notice he did not say, “A” way, “A” truth, “A” life. “A” truth is what a world “living to die” really seeks after. As an evangelist, I can say, I am dying to preach the truth of the good news of the gospel. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, to save a sinner like you and me.
In closing, I would like to say that I am so grateful that Jesus’ answer to that question is different than mine. You see, he was not “dying to live,” he was “living to die.” He was chosen to die before the foundation of the world.
Because Jesus was “living to die,” I can honestly say, I am “dying to live.”
Can I ask you, what is your answer?
Hasselstrom is an evangelist with Cross Tied Ministries.
