God wants us to live
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: My family has been watching a documentary on reincarnation and now my teenagers seriously believe that they may have lived at another time. I thought by allowing them to watch this program it would broaden their minds but instead it has troubled them. I don’t know how to turn them around.
– R.F.
A: The idea of reincarnation is attractive to some – the belief that after we die we come back to Earth again. Some people are influenced by other religions; others simply like the thought of being able to live out multiple experiences. To others, it is a terrifying thought.
Reincarnation isn’t true, and the life we’re leading now is the only one we’ll ever live. Once we die, we go into eternity – either to Heaven to be with God forever, or to that place the Bible calls Hell, where we will be eternally separated from God and His blessings. What difference should this make? It gives urgency to our lives right now. The Bible says that “now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
There is no chance after death to do life over again. There is a time to be born and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:2). In between these bookends is the journey. Sometimes we get tired of the burdens of life and wish we could start all over again. We can, with God. He desires that we walk His way through the one life He has granted us. We don’t have to waste our lives on things that have no eternal value.
Scripture has much to say about the brevity of life and the necessity of preparing for eternity. Only when a person is prepared to die is he or she also prepared to live. May we turn our eyes from worthless things, and receive the life God wants us to live (Psalm 119:37).