_Everyone is immortal. Everyone lives forever. Whether you are a Christian or an agnostic or an atheist, you live forever. Every Buddhist, every Hindu, and every Muslim lives forever. We won’t stop existing.

The question is where will we live forever? If someone bought you a one-way plane ticket and told you, “I am going to send you off on a journey next week.” Before you get excited, the thing you’d ask is, “What is the destination for this one-way plane fare?” If the destination is Siberia, don’t be too excited. But if the destination is Maui, then get excited.

In the same way, the issue is not whether we will live forever as much as it is where we will live forever. According to the Bible, there are only two options: heaven or hell. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you go to heaven. Jesus said. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26).

We’re not in denial. We understand that the body breaks down and sometimes shuts down quickly but we’re not going to die forever. General MacArthur, in his famous televised speech in April 1951, stated,“Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”

Well, we could also say, “Old Christians never die; they just move away.” And where do they move? They move away to heaven.

_Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.” —Matthew 22:37–38

When the Pharisees asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment in the Law, He told them, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first
and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37–38).

Jesus was effectively saying that instead of worrying about which commandments were lesser or greater, get back to this: love God with all of your being, and all of these things will be sorted out. It makes
complete sense, doesn’t it? Because really if I love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul, and mind, then I naturally will want to do what He wants me to do.

If we love God with all of my heart, soul, and mind, then we will not want to have another god before Him or worship an idol or take His name in vain. The idea is that if we can fully grasp this basic truth of loving
God, then everything else will find its proper place.

So to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind means loving Him with every part of our being.