by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n
A point was made in Bible study Sunday that started me thinking. The question was why some people put off becoming a Christian even when they know it is what they need to do. The response was that people treat Christianity as a life insurance policy. They see it as something they need before they die and many put off the purchase until the last minute, with the result that most end up waiting too long. They die without it.<\/p>\n
The problem is that the only value being placed on Christianity is for life after death. The value of being a Christian in this life is completely missed. “So He said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time<\/strong>, and in the age to come eternal life’<\/em>” (Luke 18:29-30).<\/p>\n You gave up a lot just to smoke pot — not just your relationship with your brother, mother, and your family at church, but you’ve tossed out beautiful potentials for your future. Some might be retrievable, but the longer you stay chained down in drugs the fewer joys you’ll leave yourself in life.<\/p>\n I want the best for you. I want to walk arm-in-arm with you in heaven. But I also want to rejoice to hear about the good you are doing for other people, to beam at your wedding, and to giggle with your children, knowing that their parents will give them a wonderful, secure life. Remember the joy and come home soon.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSearching for My Friend\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Buying Insurance by Jeffrey W. Hamilton A point was made in Bible study Sunday that started me thinking. The question was why some people put off becoming a Christian even when they know it is what they need to do. The response was that people treat Christianity as a life insurance policy. They see it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":25976,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-65728","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65374,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/letters-of-advice-to-newlyweds\/becoming-one-financially\/","url_meta":{"origin":65728,"position":0},"title":"Becoming One Financially","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Becoming One Financially by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I suspect that your first month together flew by and yet lasted forever. So many new experiences in such a small amount of time! Living near a military base has given me opportunities to interact with numerous young couples. 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First, consider who\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14395,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/why-did-god-create-man-a-study-of-ecclesiastes\/education\/","url_meta":{"origin":65728,"position":2},"title":"Education (Ecclesiastes)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Education Reading Assignment:\u00a0Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 Did you understand what you read? Why would Solomon consider foolishness? Give some examples of people who act as if foolishness is the purpose of life. How is wisdom better than foolishness? Why can't the pursuit of wisdom be the reason for living? What do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13925,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/moral-principles-for-young-people\/the-courage-to-live\/","url_meta":{"origin":65728,"position":3},"title":"The Courage to Live","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Courage to Live by Lonnie Garrison It takes courage to die! But sometimes it takes more courage to live. When a Christian dies, he goes to be with Christ, which is far better. But to live day after day, year after year, with pain or difficult circumstances is another\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/CourageInBattle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-corinthian-letters\/no-radical-changes\/","url_meta":{"origin":65728,"position":4},"title":"No Radical Changes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"No Radical Changes Working with the Circumstance God Gave You\u00a0(I Corinthians 7:17-24) Using the principle Paul developed in regards to a Christian married to unbelievers, Paul expands it to other situations. Often we are in less control of our lives than we would like to imagine and frequently there are\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65280,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/attendance\/","url_meta":{"origin":65728,"position":5},"title":"Attendance (Fundamentals)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Attendance I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we talk of worshiping God, one aspect of that worship is our gathering together \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Psalm 122:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Is this your attitude, or do you feel dragged here? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To worship God requires assembling with fellow Christians \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hebrews 10:19-27 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The writer of Hebrews discusses the conversion of a man \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus consecrated\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65728\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}