This World Has Many Choices; Eternity Has Only Two

The title of this article is found in the words of a religious song that I have heard over the radio several times. It is a moving song. One that really makes you think. God made man in His image and one likeness is that man has the ability to make choices in life. Adam and Eve made the wrong one and introduced sin to the human family (Genesis 2 & 3; Romans 5:12). The Israelites were required to choose to serve or Baal or God (I Kings 18:20, 21). Jesus invites mankind to come to him and He will give rest to all who decide to do so (Matthew 11:28 - 30).

Our Lord also presents to us two gates to enter and two ways to travel in this life (Matthew 7:13, 14). The decision an individual makes will determine the direction one will travel in this life and eventually where one will be in eternity. In this life we all make decisions small and great from day to day. Some of our decisions will bring joy to our heart while others cause sadness and unpleasant consequences. The young couple that commits fornication often affects adversely the conscience of one and perhaps both parties. And sometimes a child is the result of such an immoral deed and shame is felt among members of both families. Pity the person who becomes addicted to some form of drugs and destroys both body and mind. In a moment of anger a life is taken and the guilty party has to endure the consequence by spending his life in prison.

On the other hand a young person gives his life to the Lord and commits his life to serving His Lord and Master. Life is enjoyed and the mornings of each day is received as being beautiful and appreciated. Love is found in the heart of Christian young lady and marriage follows after a courtship with someone she will spend a lifetime with as they rear their children in the way of the Lord. In spite of the hardships and challenges in life they encounter, happiness is found in living for Jesus Christ and serving one another and others. A young man decides that his true desire in life is to live in a foreign country and teach and train people to become productive citizens. As long as a person has the mental ability and breath resides in his body, decisions can be made. But eventually the time will come when the capability to decide will cease.

Eventually the spirit of man will take flight and the body dies (James 2:26). The spirit returns to God and the body goes back to dust from whence it came (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The power to choose where one will be in eternity is past. We will have no power to have control over matters. In life there is the ability to do things our way and to make decisions but not so in eternity. That has already been determined by the choice one made while living. In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus makes it very clear that now He is the only one who has the power to decide where one will be in eternity. To those who gave their lives to Jesus and served Him faithfully in life they will hear this sweet invitation, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (V. 34). But to the majority who decided not to believe in and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, these terrible words will be heard, “Depart me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (V.41).

My dear friend if you will confess Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, He will confess you one day before His Father and the angels in heaven (Matthew 10:32, 33). It is my prayer that you will decide to confess Him now because if you do not, there is coming a day in which all mankind will confess Him but then it will be too late (Philippians 2: 9-11). When Jesus comes again and sits on the throne of His glory, judgment will have begun. Then it will the sheep or the goats, right or left, saved or lost, heaven or hell. Please make the choice to live for Jesus in this life if you have not already so in order that you may live with Him in eternity. This is my earnest plea and prayer for you.

A Heart Warming Story

You could not help but to be touched by the moving story related in the local newspaper a few years ago regarding a young boy’s death and his last request, that his heart be given to a girl he secretly loved. You see she was dying because her heart was malfunctioning. She faced certain death unless a donor could be found to give her a healthy heart. It was a true story that books are written about and movies are made. In a world wherein most of the news deals with crime, violence, threats of war, famines, earthquakes and other disasters, natural and man-made, it was so heart warming to hear of a tender story that made you feel sad and happy at the same time. It was sad because a young boy died, but happy that a young girl’s life had been prolonged.

There is another sweet story recorded in the Holy Scriptures that should move us to tears because of the death of a young man, Jesus of Nazareth, age 33. You see he knew that mankind was suffering from an awful malady. The sickness from which there was no earthly cure was a fatal heart disease called sin. The prophet Jeremiah described the symptoms in this manner: “The heart if deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)? The only remedy was the precious blood of the Lamb of God (Ephesians 1:7). But, this meant that Jesus would have to die for all men. His death on Calvary was not by accident. It was “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23 ). Furthermore, the Lord willingly laid down his life for us (John 10:15, 17, 18). “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 ).

If you would be saved from sin and a fate worse than physical death, you must respond to heaven’s gift, the death of Jesus Christ on your behalf. Please consider that Jesus loved you and shed his precious blood for you nearly two thousand years ago. Please obey from the heart the gospel of Jesus Christ that you might be free from sin and that you might live a new life in the Lord (Romans 6:17, 18; 2 Corinthians 5:17 ).

If the story about the boy who died and donated his heart to a girl he loved so that she might live touches you, you should be moved emotionally at the tender story of Jesus and his love that motivated him to give his life on Calvary that you might be saved now from sin and have the hope of eternal life with Him and all the redeemed.