Devotional - May 16, 2004

When Jesus spoke those words, he was answering those who claimed he was a son of the devil and not God. But Jesus turned the accusers' words back on them. Not only was He the Son of God, but they were sons of the devil. Ouch, that had to hurt!

Regardless of the reason Jesus said it, the thought that those of us who obey His word will never "see" death is just too marvelous for words. Does that mean our bodies will never die? No, of course not because millions of believers have died since Jesus said that. Does it mean that we will die but never experience the pain associated with it. No, because right now, millions of people are suffering and hurting as a result of a slow death killing their body. True: Physical death takes the body, but dying without having Jesus as Savior will take your soul. That's called the spiritual death.

What Jesus was saying was this: "Born once, die twice. Born twice, die once." What that means is that each of us was born. That's obvious as is the fact each one of us will die once. Death is waiting for everyone of us except those of us raptured alive into his presence when Jesus comes again ( 1Th 4:13-18). Those who are born again are actually born "twice," and since Jesus is our Savior, there is no spiritual death for the SAVED. Hence, we are born twice, die once.

How many times have you been born? According to God's word, how many times will you die? I hope you're in the 2/1 plan and not the 1/2 plan. You have no choice as to being born, but the second one is entirely in your hands. What's worse than dying? Answer: doing it twice.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( 1Sa. 18:4b-19:24 Jn. 8:31-59 Ps. 112:1-10 Pr. 15:12-14 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society