In 1951, a book by an unknown writer hit the shelves of bookstores throughout the United States. That book started off with the line, “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” That book was The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
Often times, we talk about heaven and hell and the resurrection and we use the term, “the afterlife”. It’s understandable, it IS after this life, after all. But it may be worthwhile for us to challenge that with something that is just as true – this life that we’re living now is just the “beforelife”. This life that we’re living right now is the life before the eternity set before us by the Almighty God. This life that we’re living right now is a prequel, an introduction, a trailer – but it’s not the whole thing.
One day we might join Salinger’s sentiments from The Catcher in the Rye. “The first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, etc etc etc….but I don’t feel like going into it, BECAUSE look at me here in the Resurrection! Look at the past thousand years that I’ve spent living with Christ and His saints that have been rescued out of a sinful world. That’s worth paying attention to.”
That isn’t to say that our stories right now are unimportant to us in this current moment. Our joys and struggles on this side of the Resurrection are important because they are still a part of our story. But know that no matter how joyful your current joys or how difficult your current struggles – one day they will pale and become unimportant in the grand scheme of what God has given us in Jesus Christ.
Moreover, join us starting this Sunday as we begin a new Bible study on the topics of the Afterlife: Heaven, Hell, and the Resurrection.