Birthday thoughts

I recently heard a supposed minister of the gospel proclaim, “You know the directions to Heaven?  Turn right, stay straight.”  I vehemently disagree.  The Bible says that only the person who has a right relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, will enter the blissful existence of Heaven.

In John 14, Jesus said these words to His disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you.  I am going to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place I am going."  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (verses 1-6).  What are the directions to Heaven?  It’s not through effort, conduct, or works; it is through Jesus Christ alone.

You see, humanity chose to turn its back on God, because of sin.  No one is perfect or sinless.  “There is no one righteous, not even one.  There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12).  “We all, like sheep, have gone astray,” says Isaiah 53:5, “each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”  Jesus, the unique God-man, shed His blood on the cross to atone for our sin.  One just needs to put their faith, trust, and confidence in Jesus to save them.  “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

It is my birthday.  As I look at my life, I recall how the Lord transformed my life when I was a boy.  That was the starting point of the most exciting journey with Him.  Don’t get me wrong: I haven’t followed Him perfectly.  I resonate with the Christian singer Carman who stated, “He has been better to me than I’ve been to myself.”  He went on to sing, “I’m so glad that the Lord saved me.  If it had not been for Jesus, where would I be?  I’m so glad that the Lord saved me.”  Amen and amen!

Kevin