Insurance vs. Assurance

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31 (NIV)

It was that time of year again - time to meet with our insurance agent to review our life insurance policies. Part of me always dreads this appointment. For one thing, you know they're going to try and sell you more insurance. Secondly, the mere fact that you are meeting with them to discuss the issue of your death and how important it will be for the needs of your family to be met when that occurs can be depressing and unpleasant to think about.

But having life insurance is a wise and responsible thing to do. It gives you a sense of assurance. It's not a question of whether or not you should have life insurance, but more a question of how much life insurance you should have. When is enough, enough?

Of course you want to have enough life insurance to cover any debts you might have. In the case of your untimely death, you wouldn't want your spouse worrying about possibly losing the house too! So that is why the insurance agent might sometimes recommend getting a term life insurance policy in addition to your whole life policy. A term life insurance policy can be purchased on a temporary basis for a certain number of years to help cover a specific debt you might have. For example, if you still have fifteen years to pay off your mortgage, it might be wise to get a term life insurance policy for fifteen years to make sure that that debt would be covered if you would die within those fifteen years. This then leaves the other life insurance policy money to help the family with other living expenses, etc.

As my husband and I met with our insurance agent recently to discuss such issues as these, a sense of peace came over me as we made what we think are some wise decisions to help ensure that things will all be taken care of in the future when we die. But at the same time I realized that assurance in earthly things is only temporary and can have the possibility of falling through or disappointing us.

It made me even more thankful that as Christians we can have the assurance of eternal things. Not just the wonderful assurance of our salvation! But also the assurance that all of our debts have already been paid by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! He is our life assurance policy! Because of His sacrifice on the cross, we can be assured of eternal life with God, our heavenly Father when we accept Jesus as our Savior.

So which would you rather have - insurance or assurance? Yes, insurance here on earth is a good thing to have. But heavenly assurance is even better.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that we can have complete assurance in you and in your Word. May we always put our faith and hope in you instead of the things of this world.

Beth Wehr