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(3.5″ x 3.5″ booklet, 24 pages)

Comprehensive research has uncovered bad news for those who don’t believe in God. Their neglect to obey the gospel and their consequential life-choices will more than likely cut years off their lifespan. Science backs this up. An article in Forbes titled “Science Says: Religion Is Good For Your Health” stated,

For example, researchers at the Mayo Clinic concluded, “Most studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes, including greater longevity . . .”¹ Decades of research have shown this to be true. The Mayo Clinic reported,

A meta-analysis of 42 studies of nearly 126,000 persons found that highly religious persons had a 29% higher odds of survival compared with less religious persons.² There’s more science to back this up. In an article titled “Does Religion Stave Off the Grave?” the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science reported that religiously affiliated people lived 5.64 to 9.45 years longer than those who were not religiously affiliated. ³

In covering this phenomenon, the Los Angeles Times suggested the reason for the longer life of believers:

…the five keys are regular exercise, healthful eating, devotion to family and especially elders, a sense of purpose built around community and giving, and a spiritual life.⁴

But millions of unbelievers exercise, eat healthy, love their family, enjoy a sense of community, and have some sort of spirituality—and yet die younger. What the Times didn’t mention was an often overlooked reason why unbelievers are more likely to die younger than believers.

Christians are those who obey the gospel and are “born again,” so that they consider their body the temple of the Holy Spirit. They are therefore careful as to what they put into their bodies. They are free to drink alcohol if they wish, but most don’t—because they know it’s destructive to the human body. Unbelievers meanwhile drink alcohol with little restraint, causing the deaths of more than 140,000 each year in the United States.⁵

Neither do Christians use illegal drugs, which kill more than 106,000 in the US each year.⁶ Christians generally don’t smoke tobacco, which takes the lives of more than 480,000 annually in America—1,300 deaths every day.⁷

Neither do they engage in promiscuous sex or homosexual activities, which have taken the lives of more than 700,000 through AIDS, just in the United States. And AIDS continues to kill thousands each year.⁸

It is because Christians honor God that they obey civil law, so they don’t live life in the fast lane and run red lights, drink and drive, and put their lives at risk. Christians are filled with gratitude to God for the gift of life and have peace believing that no matter what comes their way, He will work it out for their good, according to His promise:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

That means when the storms of life come, believers would never consider suicide as an option, as many unbelievers tragically do. In the last ten years, over 450,000 people in the US have taken their own lives.⁹ Trusting God also helps believers to avoid stress, one of today’s biggest killers. Men’s Health reported that “stress has been linked to heart disease and early death.”¹⁰

The Bible repeatedly describes unbelievers as living in darkness, walking through a minefield of potential self-destructive activities. Christians, however, are able to avoid these dangers because they have the Word of God, the Bible, as a lamp to their feet and a light to their path (see Psalm 109:105).

Here is perhaps the number one reason Christians live longer than unbelievers: It is the result of their worldview. Christians understand that they have been made in the image of God (see Genesis 1:26,27). They don’t believe the unscientific, unproven, and unprovable theory of evolution—that they are merely the result of an explosion in space, a product of pure chance with no rhyme or reason.

Those who love God therefore not only have a purpose for their existence, but they have hope in their death. More important than just living longer on this earth, they will live eternally with God.

Perhaps you don’t have that “blessed hope,” so let’s take a moment to make sure you’re right with God—that you’re “born again,” as Jesus said you must be to enter the kingdom of God (see John 3:3).

Do you think you are a good person? No doubt, like most of us, you do. How many lies do you think you have told in your life? Have you ever stolen something, even if it’s small? If you’ve done these two things, then you are a lying thief. Have you ever used God’s name in vain, either flippantly (including “OMG”) or as profanity? If you have, let me ask you if you would ever use your mother’s name as a cuss word. I’m sure you wouldn’t, because that would show you don’t respect her in the slightest. And yet you have used God’s holy name as a cuss word. That’s called “blasphemy,” and it’s very serious in God’s eyes. He promises that whoever takes
His name in vain will not be guiltless (see Exodus 20:7). One more question. Jesus said that if we look with lust we commit adultery in our heart (Matthew 5:28). Have you ever looked at someone with lust? If you’re normal, you have.

So here is a summation of your court case on Judgment Day. You’ve admitted to being a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart. When God judges you by the Ten Commandments, are you going to be innocent or guilty? Guilty, of course. Will you therefore go to Heaven or Hell? The answer is that if you die in your sins, you have God’s promise that you will end up in Hell. The Bible says that all liars will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8), and that no thief, no adulterer, and no blasphemer will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9,10).

Does that make you fearful? If it does, that’s good. Fear is doing its beneficial work. It’s being your friend, not your enemy, by showing you that you desperately need God’s mercy. It’s also humbling you so that you will be able to understand the good news of the gospel—that, although the wages of sin is death, God offers you the gift of everlasting life in Jesus Christ, the Savior (Romans 6:23).

Here now is the gospel: The Ten Commandments are God’s “moral Law.” You and I broke the Law, but Jesus paid the fine in His life’s blood. That’s what happened when He died on the cross. That’s why He said just before He died, “It is finished!” In other words, the debt has been paid in full.

If you’re in court and someone pays your fine, the judge can let you go even though you are guilty. In doing so, he still does what is legal, right, and just. Does that make sense? Even though you are guilty, you are free to walk out of the courtroom because someone has paid your fine.

The Bible says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God proved His great love for you through the cross. Then Jesus rose from the dead and defeated the power of the grave.

It is because Jesus paid the death penalty for guilty criminals that God can dismiss your case. You can walk out of His courtroom on Judgment Day. He can pardon your death sentence and legally let you live forever,
all because Jesus paid the fine for sin in full on that cross. God has made the way to find everlasting life so simple that a child can understand it.

All you need to do is be honest and humble. You simply have to repent of your sins and trust in Jesus alone. Repentance means to turn from sin. You can’t say you’re a Christian and continue to lie, steal, and blaspheme God’s holy name. That would be to deceive yourself and play the hypocrite. Your repentance must be sincere to be genuine. Then you trust in Jesus alone for your salvation, as you would trust in a parachute.

Today, repent and trust in Jesus, because the reality is you may not have tomorrow. If you’re not sure how to repent, here is a model prayer of repentance, given to us in Scripture when King David had his sin exposed:

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. (Psalm 51:1–4)

Then, to show your gratitude, read the Bible daily and obey it, join a Christian church, and be baptized. As a Christian, you will then not only tend to live longer than unbelievers, but you will live forever.