There is a popular quote among secular minds that states, “You only have two lives, and the second one starts when you realize you only have one.” Of course, this is in reference to that “live like you are dying” mentality. To the minds of the world devoid of hope and faith, this is as commendable a way to live as possible. While there is nothing wrong with living an exciting life, going on adventures, and making memories, we also realize that there is so much more to living than only what we gain in our earthly life. While the quote mentioned is not in reference to spiritual living, I can’t help but to have dwelled on that quote the past couple of day.
So, let us take this secular quotation and apply to our spiritual walk. In fact, I believe whole heartedly that this statement is even more applicable to Christian living than any life outside the Kingdom. For we know that we only have two lives, and the second one does start when we realize we only have one that matters.
Our first life is our life before Christ. It is a life of childish whimsy and the lack of accountability. A life lived in the purity and innocence of youth, but then that innocence is shattered by our understanding of good and evil, and our choosing to do what is evil instead of what is good… Of course, that choice invites sin into our lives, and from the moment we become willful sinners, everything about our life changes. We are lost, we feel regret and remorse, we know we are broken, and we also know that there is nothing we can do to fix our brokenness on our own. However, we make that realization. We understand that there is another life waiting for us, a life in the grace, love, and mercy of Christ. We understand that we do have two lives, one that is earthly, one that will perish and go away, but we also have that second life, the one that is eternal, and the one that God wants us to spend with Him in glory. When we make that realization: that the one physical life we live can be changed forevermore, it can be washed clean, then we come to that new realization and beautiful promise: The life we live in Christ, the one life that matters, that will know no end.
Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
1 Peter 1:23
We, as Christians, have 2 lives: the one we lived before our salvation, which has thankfully ended, and the one we live in harmony with the God Head, the one which will thankfully never end! If you are not yet a Christian, this thought should be an exciting and enticing one! Jesus Christ died for you to have this eternal life because He loved you! Why would anybody with that knowledge not crave admission into this life made possible only through the lifeblood of Christ?
Our new life begins with our burial with Christ in baptism (Romans 6) and it immediately goes into a new life servitude in the blessed love and faith of Christ Jesus. The moment we realize that we have the opportunity to embrace this new, one, everlasting life founded in love and mercy, at that second, everything changes for the better, forever. Through Jesus’s blood our sins are washed as white as snow though our immersion, and then, our blessed resurrection into the blessed existence forevermore made possible through the will of God. So, how true is it? “You only have two lives, and the second one starts when you realize you only have one.”
– Winston