I am always amazed and alarmed by the number of people who are not proactive. Some refuse to go to doctors for routine checkups and age-appropriate testing. Others make no financial plans for the future (see yesterday’s devotional). And there are those who see no need for life insurance, providing for burial expenses and financial security for the loved ones remaining. While it would be wonderful if the Lord just took us all in the Rapture, we can’t assume that it is going to happen before medical, financial, or end-of-life events happen. We ought to be prepared.
Today is National Life Insurance Day. Doing my research for the devotional, I was amazed to see how long it has been around and when the first policies were written in the United States. Life insurance is nothing new. It has a lot of age and history on it!
“Life insurance, a concept that dates back to ancient Greece and Rome around 600-100 BC, has its roots in the concept of burial. The first known life insurance policy was issued in London on 18 June 1583, and it became more widespread and affordable after the development of mortality tables. The concept of insurance gained popularity during the Panic of 1837 due to the expansion of women’s rights and cultural changes.
“Life insurance began to emerge in the 16th and 17th centuries in England, France, and Holland. The first organized life insurance efforts in America began in the 1700s, influenced by practices in Europe. Life insurance can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome, where sophisticated early societies provided a form of both health insurance and burial insurance.
“The first company to offer life insurance was the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office, established in 1706. Life insurance sales rose dramatically after World War I, peaking at $117 billion of insurance in force in 1930. On May 2, 1759, the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers, the country’s first life insurance company, was established.
“In summary, life insurance has its roots in ancient civilizations, with the first known life insurance policies being issued in the early 18th century. The history of life insurance dates back to 1759, with the establishment of the Presbyterian Ministers Fund and the rise of life insurance companies in various countries.”1
A failure to plan for the future is evident in a story Jesus told, however, it wasn’t referring to life insurance. Or was it?
“And he [Jesus] spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: (17) And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? (18) And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. (19) And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many
years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (20) But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (21) So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21)
This rich man had failed to secure the most important life insurance known to man. He didn’t have eternal life through Jesus Christ; therefore, he wasn’t prepared for the day of his death. He had spent all his time in earthly pursuits. He made money hand-over-fist. Nothing is intimated that he had done anything necessarily wrong. He simply didn’t have time for Jesus and was not prepared with the most important life insurance needed by every single person.
Life insurance is guaranteed by your provider. Government regulations are in place to protect our policies. Well, my salvation life insurance policy is also guaranteed by the provider. Jesus said in John 6:37-40, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (38) For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (39) And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (40) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” That is a great guarantee.
Prudential Life Insurance and Prudential Financial has had two major mottos: Get a piece of the rock and Let Prudential be your rock. How about we first make sure that JESUS is our rock and that we are built upon Him? 1 Corinthians 10:4 says, “…for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”
1https://insuranceinformant.com/when-did-life-insurance-become-popular.html
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