Forever

That song is still going thru my head. "Who Wants to Live Forever?" If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the music video I posted last night. Adam Lambert is no Freddie Mercury, but he has an incredible voice and I think Freddie would have approved.

The song itself is kind of tongue in cheek in that the answer to the question is a kind of sarcastic "not really". And there is something to that. Who wants to live forever when they're old or sick or debilitated? That's how Freddie Mercury's life ended. He died of AIDS. He wanted to live forever, but as a healthy younger man I think. Certainly not in the decay of his final days.

Someone said that youth is wasted on the young, and I would say that's true for some. When we are in our 20's, we tend to burn the candle at both ends for a brief time prior to becoming responsible. Others of us never make that transition. We do not become responsible in the classic sense. We continue to live as we did when we were young and foolish and it can kill us if we aren't careful.

This is why I always say, moderation in everything - except moderation. We have to be extreme in our moderation. It's one of the keys to a long life I think, but I digress....

Our Creator made us to live forever and to live forever with Him. We were never intended to experience old age, sickness or death. Our ancestors thought they could live on their own without Him and do as they pleased and this was successful for awhile. Eventually though, separation from God brings about separation from life. We die. The process is wholly unnatural, but it happens because we choose our own will over His and so separate ourselves from Him who is the source of all life. 

The Lord God created us to live forever with Him. He is our eternal parent. We were never intended to be separated from Him. Sure, we grow up and are able to function in the world, but we are designed to always need Him in our lives. God has no grandchildren. We are it. We will always be His children whether we leave or stay by His side, but only He can ensure that we live forever.

Though we will all die as our ancestors did, our most important part will live on. The day will come when our spirits will be united with a new and uncorrupted body and we will live forever in this form. It will be glorious. The future is bright! 

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[h]

⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”^[i]

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

You see? Now do you want to live forever? I do. See ya there.