Evangelist Billy Graham has shared two reasons God spares His people from death, explaining second chances aren't granted "by accident".
The 98-year-old evangelist shared his thoughts in his "Answers" column in response to a question posed by a reader, "J.D.S", who shared that several months ago, they survived a life-threatening car accident.
"Did God have anything to do with this?" J.D.S. asked.
The founder of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association explained that God had "everything" to do with sparing the reader's life: "God didn't cause this accident; you caused it by your careless driving," he wrote. "But God did allow it to happen, and He was with you every inch of the way, protecting you and sparing your life. In other words, you weren't just 'lucky,' nor did you just 'happen' to escape death. God's unseen hand was on you, and He kept you from serious harm."
Graham went on to highlight two specific reasons God spares His people from death.
"One reason was so that you would turn to Him and make Jesus Christ the foundation of your life," the evangelist shared. "Just as a building needs a solid foundation if it's to be stable, so we need a solid foundation on which to build our lives. By faith turn to Jesus Christ and make Him the foundation of your life."
Second, God saves His people because He wants to use them for His glory in the future.
"God loves you; the proof isn't only that He spared you, but that Jesus Christ died for you," Graham said.
God doesn't give second chances by accident, so don't waste your life, but put yourself into Christ's hands and seek God's will for your future, Graham advised.
"The Bible says, 'And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again' (2 Corinthians 5:15)," he concluded.
In an earlier "Answers" column, Graham said that far too often, when people have a near-death experience, they simply go on living the same way they always have.
"God spared you for a purpose, and the most important thing you can do is to seek that purpose and dedicate your life to it," he said. "You aren't here by chance, nor are you here just to live for yourself without any thought of God. God made you, and life's greatest joy comes from knowing Him and living for Him every day."
Graham, known as the "Pastor to Presidents", this year made the Gallup Poll's list of the 10 men most admired by Americans - for a record 60th year.
The evangelist, who currently resides in Montreat, North Carolina, first appeared on the list in 1955, and has made into the top 10 every year since, with the exception of the 1962 survey and in 1976, when the question was not asked. His closest competitor for number of times on the list is former President Ronald Reagan, who made the list 31 times.
