Insurance

      My wife just bought a "new" car. The first thing anyone must do is buy car insurance. The automobile cannot legally be on the road without it.  Insurance is expensive. People are willing to pay, not only for damage to their automobile, but injuries to themselves, and even for death. We worry about our things, our physical condition, and most certainly our own deaths! Drivers can opt out of self-insurance but liability insurance for others is not optional.
     Consider insurance closely: The insurer bets that you will not be in an accident, be injured, nor die. You bet that you will! Of course, the reality is that there are dangerous drivers out there on the highways. The reality is that you may also may be a dangerous driver because we all can make mistakes. No driver is perfect, and the probability that collision with something will occur. Thus, people insure their vehicles because they may not be financially capable of repairing or replacing it. Likewise for injuries. Their health insurance may not be enough although it is also now mandatory. Insurance also pays for distress. People don't like to be hurt and perceive that those at fault pay for their pain!
     In the case of death, insured people are betting that they will die. The insurer is gambling that they won't. Ironically, if you "win" you lose because you will never receive the award. You do it for the benefit of others. Even though you will be dead and not savvy to their discomfort, you still care about them while you are alive. I never bought personal life insurance because I didn't like the losing proposition of insurance. I cared about my loved ones, but gambled that I would not die. Now they are all adults and provided for, and I won the gamble! I am one blessed individual. "Fate" decided that I would not die, and that I would win the gamble. "Fate" is non-existent. I don't believe in abstract faculties to guide and protect me. I believe that everything is for a purpose. I believe that I exist and am healthy for a reason.
     I don't put my trust in any type of insurance. Sure, I may feel more secure with insurance, but I will need to suffer to collect any money, I had dogs chase my bicycle and cause me to wreck. I suffered four-ribs and an ocular bone broken, a facial gash requiring several stitches, and a brain concussion. Homeowners insurance of the dog owner rewarded me for my pain and suffering. I already was insured as well.
     I had paid for my own insurance and others had as well. The insurance companies thus were paid twice for one pay-out. Naïve people pay for insurance twice quite often, and insurance companies make money off people who pay doubly. Insurance is based on the idea that you will pay for an award which you will never obtain! People are foolish; we pay for what will never be received because we are concerned about our well-being. Of course, I would never purposely smash my face against the pavement again for any amount of award! I hate pain.

     "Spiritual regeneration" is insurance against perishing forever. It is free insurance but most people don't buy into it. Why? Spiritual insurance is no different than physical insurance. In order to receive the award, one must change. Even with a hefty insurance policy, because people prefer safety to injury and life to death, they still endeavor to drive safely. Likewise, with spiritual "insurance" God requires safe "driving".  Toward what destination is everyone driving? Eternal life or eternally dying. On what highway must the "driver" traverse? The "Way of Christ". The "ramp" onto it is straight and the "way" narrow, but few drive it, but people drive safely there. They have spiritual safety because, corny as it is, God is indeed their pilot!
     I just declined under and non-insured motorist insurance on my vehicles. The probability that an uninsured driver will collide with me is not likely. Also, even if they do, I am covered elsewhere. Insurance is not for profit but people expect it to be so. They want to make money off their injuries and death. They pay for insurance which they may never need.
     On the other hand, everyone needs spiritual insurance. At an early age, we all discover the reality: I will surely die! That was a sad day for me, but all the insurance in the world will not prevent physical death. The only people in our future who will never experience the sting of death are those who are safe when the Insurer comes to bring them to salvation. He will say, well done good and faithful "driver". 
    For the rest of the people, the majority, they will experience the sting of death. There is no insurance for that travesty! We must all face the reality that death will be suffered. We all dread that day, and no words can comfort us. Most people have a false security: They either (1) remove thoughts of death from their minds, or (2) pleasure themselves as they live false realities. I know that I am going to die, think about it, and know that in spite of pleasure, I will still die.
     There are two deaths: spiritual and physical. No insurance can prevent the first, but there is Insurance that I not experience spiritual death. Most insurance costs money. Insurance companies are paid by the insured to provide comfort from what may not happen. Spiritual insurance is for free and it gives comfort that each person does not experience eternally dying. Unlike physical death which is a "sting" of short duration, spiritual death is eternally dying.
     The spiritual insurance policy is merely trusting the Insurer that he can provide the settlement for the claim; that He has the Power to save from calamity, and the will to do so. The Insurer has paid the security under the Law of God. The insured must believe that, and treat the Insurer with love and respect. The Insurer doesn't want money for insuring but demands love and respect. He has already paid for the policy - everyone's - and all the insured need to do is sign the policy. The agreement is by faith, and the safety is secured by trust. God insures and the insured, rather than sacrificing any flesh, merely circumcises their hearts. They give to the Insurer their devotion. The "deal" is clinched with baptism as the insured commits to safe living. They reject their old "driving" habits with safe-driving according to the rules; no less than your insurer expects of anyone!
     Insurance companies have resulted in onboard monitors to check driving habits; how safely the driver drives and how cautiously the driver handles the curves and stoppages. God does that too, but not as a penalty to cancel the insurance but that His children drive more safely.  Knowing that we all are reckless at times, God had his own set of controls just as the driver's education instructor does. As we head toward calamity, God takes control of our "vehicles". The driver is safe throughout the Way until that inevitable "sting" is felt. That is when spiritual insurance kicks in: Shall this driver live on or die forever? All of us must choose our destination. Someone must pay for good insurance. Jesus already did that. He redeemed everyone by his own death, and all anyone needs to do is sign on the dotted line that we trust and accept God's insurance policy.
    Part of my rejection of uninsured motorist insurance is that I trust God for safety. I still buy insurance because I'm not foolish. I may need it someday or I may be destroyed. I buy into God as well because He is my only chance for eternal life. Buying into "God insurance" is as pragmatic as buying into accident insurance. I suggest that drivers buy car insurance and sinners buy spiritual insurance although not everyone drives but everyone sins.

     By the way: Those who refuse eternal life insurance gamble that they won't need it, but the Insurer KNOWS it is required for certain.