Andy Smith

My first experience of death was when I was four years old and my guinea pig 'Patch' died. I remember pressing my hands and face against my bedroom window, looking out onto the garden where my dad was digging a small hole beneath the petunias to lay the old squeaky fur ball to rest. My next experience of death was when I accidentally killed my sister's cat by shutting its head in the patio door. Honestly, it was an accident!

It doesn't take long to learn that death is rubbish. After Patch had died, he was boring. He didn't make any noise when you squeezed him and didn't scamper about with playful glee like he did before. He was a bit of a stiff.

Here's the science bit. When you're dead, you're not alive. Profound, I know, but here's the thing; we're designed to be alive, not just in a physical way, but also in a spiritual way. Jesus said in John 10:10 NIV, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full."

We've got a world full of people who are walking corpses, demonstrating the remnants of the vital signs of life without really living - certainly not the kind of life that echoes through to eternity.

These people often steer clear of Christianity because all it seems to do is tell them in no uncertain terms where they're going wrong, leaving them vacuous, more lost and empty than they were before. Scandalously, the predominant example of Christianity they are given is one lived out by people who have believed a dodgy gospel that says, "Christ died for your sins, so say the prayer and when you die, you'll go to heaven." Their lives aren't changed - they've missed out on the opportunity of walking with Jesus every day. In fact, their lives look as dead as they did before.

So, what does a dead life look like? For a start, it won't look like Jesus. It won't be full of love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control! (Found in Galatians 5:22-23) If you're living a dead life, you'll probably still feel condemned, full of shame, feeling rubbish about even the oldest of mistakes and bad choices. You'll probably find yourself getting angry easily, feeling defensive and desperate to justify yourself even when you know you're in the wrong. You'll probably be the volatile element in your key relationships. You'll find yourself overcome by simple habits. Your world will most likely revolve around you and you'll look left, right and centre for things that seem to fill the gap - everything from the latest trainers to the newest high.

Peter L Berger once said, "The futurity of man is hope." One of the saddest parts of living a dead life is that you find yourself without hope, no assurance that anything will ever be ok. Y'know what? There's only one thing that can change this state of being - Jesus.

With fire in his eyes, and a cheeky grin on his face, Jesus throws no stones, rather, he gives a vision for life - the best life possible! This fullness of life is not about being flawless, or having ethical correctness in all the decisions we make. It's this - "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3 NIV. Your new life doesn't begin when you die or when you get your life sorted out. It begins as soon as you meet the Father. Your fullness of life begins as you spend time with him and he imparts the vision, futurity, and hope he has into your life and all your shame and guilt washes away when you realise he's the one who's going to make you amazing like Jesus. "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son." Romans 8:29. In other words, you will be like Jesus.

Ezekiel was taken out to a valley (Chapter 37) and in that valley was death - just dry bones. God told him to prophesy to the breath. (Breath is life - when God made Adam, he breathed life into him and in John 20 Jesus breathes on his disciples and says, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'). So as Ezekiel said something like, 'You dry bones, stand up and be full of life!' they did - and there stood a mighty army!

I believe Christianity has never been about being good. I believe it's about being alive. I also believe there's a time coming when young people everywhere are going to ditch the trappings of a dead life and grab hold of a vision of Jesus, a relationship with the Father who is life everlasting and do amazing, unimaginable things in His name! So now, you sit in the valley of decision - what are you going to chose?

In the immortal words of Eddie Izzard, "Cake or death? '...erm...cake please!'"