Exist or live?

“There was a time when I didn’t exist, but there will never again be a time when I won’t exist.”

This was quoted at a seminar I recently attended and I can’t seem to get it out of my mind. I have been thinking about life and existence all week. I didn’t have a choice in my conception and birth that was my parent’s choice. However, it is my choice that will determine my existence as living or dead AFTER my last breath on earth. What I do with my life from the time I came out of my mother’s womb until I breathe my last breath is in preparation for a time when I won’t physically exist…yet I will still exist.
Sounds like a riddle? Jesus often spoke in physical terms to explain an eternal/spiritual concept. What to the physical ear can sound like a riddle is revealed as truth to the spiritual ear. Two examples:

1. Jesus speaking to Martha after her brother Lazarus died:
Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this, Martha?” (John 11:23-26)
2. Jesus speaking to Nicodemus explaining that unless he was born again he could not see the Kingdom of God. To which Nicodemus explained, “Huh???”…well, not exactly that word.
Nicodemus said, "But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother's womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?” (John 3:1-16)

What sounded like a logical question from Nicodemus, Jesus used as a segue into explaining the lives in of John 11:26. "I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God's kingdom. Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit. Don't be surprised when I tell you, 'You must all be born again.’ No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man (Jesus) has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

So what does all this have to do with my opening statement?
Knowing at some point in time I would be born, God had a plan for my life. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Knowing exactly what I would need for my body to be formed and grow, God was there when I was conceived. (Psalm 139)
Knowing the number of days I would live on earth….God determined my beginning from my end. (Psalm 139)
Knowing eternal life past my earthly existence….God gave His Son so I could always live (eternal life) not just exist (decaying yet remaining alive…forever). (John 3:16-21)

“In the beginning…God” are the first words written in the Bible. "Come!" Let whoever is thirsty…whoever wishes may have the water of life as a free gift…Jesus, the One who says these things are true, says, "Yes, I am coming soon." These are some of the last words written in the Bible. In between are all the answers we will ever need to make an eternal choice.
There may have been a time when I didn’t exist, but there was never (nor ever will be) a time when God did not exist. One question remains for you and me: do I want to “live” or just “exist” after I die and leave this earth?  That choice will always remain ours.