It’s been said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. Taxes can be managed but we all hope to pass in our sleep from too much romping with the great grand kids. Ever since I turned 50 years old I like saying that I’m half way to dead. I’ve always been in pretty good shape so, barring any pianos falling on my head, I feel like I could make it to 100. But tomorrow is not guaranteed and then, what happens after?

   For the atheist nothing comes after, based on their own reasoning, but for most of the rest of us there is a sense that if we are good we go to a good place and if we are bad then it’s a place we don’t want to think about. For the Christian it is Heaven or Hell.

   Heaven is eternity with God, where as, Hell is eternity without Him. In the end we will end up where we want to go. C. S. Lewis put it this way, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” If you do not want God in this life He won’t force you to be with Him in the next, He loves you too much for that. Think of it this way, if you loved someone dearly would you force them to love you back or would you let them go?

   We had a perfect relationship with God and then we blew it. The entire Old Testament is about God trying to restore that relationship and describes how He is going to do it by sending His son to create the doorway that leads back to Him. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We offend God every day and yet He died to save us. Can you see how important you are to Him?

   How intimate would you have to be with someone to know how many hairs they have on their head? Luke 12:7 shares this point so that we can understand just how well God knows us, every bit of us, and still wants us to be with Him forever. In Psalm 139 David is describing God’s intimacy toward him with phrases such as, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” and “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God? How great is the sum of them!” If you care to look them up there are other verses in the Bible that describe God’s love toward you and your worth to Him. (Genesis 1:27), (1 John 3:1), (Isaiah 41:13), (1 Corinthians 10:13), (1 Peter 1:18-19), these are just a few.

   God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us because He has good plans for us, to teach us to be more like Jesus and to guide us in the good works He has planed for us to do. But let’s not confuse this, in any way, with our salvation. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” If we do “good works” because we think they will earn us a place in the Kingdom of Heaven then we are selfishly doing them for ourselves but if we do those works out of love for God and a hope of furthering His Kingdom then we are selflessly serving Him. And we can only do those things if we have Him in our lives (John 15:5).

   Understand that sin causes such an enormous debt that no amount of good works can ever outweigh and we can not hope to save ourselves by doing them. Being a good person, getting baptized, or going to church can not save us. Achieving enlightenment, accumulating good karma, or helping others can not save us. Adhering to laws, doing sacraments, or participating in rituals can not save us. Trusting in our own efforts can not save us.

   God the Father is the judge but God the Son (Jesus) is the attorney. If we trust in Him for our salvation He will be our defender but if we do not trust Him then He will be our prosecutor. He will either say to us, “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23) or “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23).

   The Bible says in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” But there are some of us that say things like, “I’m not worthy of forgiveness” or “You don’t know what I’ve done” and yet the Bible is full of those people. If you are a liar so was Jacob, if you drink too much so did Noah, if you sold your body so did Rahab, if you are suicidal so was Elijah, if you denied Jesus so did Peter, if you committed murder so did Moses. And if you ran from God so did I. All of us have rejected God in some way and we may think we need to clean ourselves up before we go to Him; we don’t because He meets us right where we are. When it comes to God the Father we’re all prodigal children and as we believe that we need Him to be saved He comes running to embrace us (Luke 15:20).

   I spent the first 16 years of my life living in Alaska and it was the perfect place to have an airplane, incase the dogs were too tired to pull the sled. My Dad had a pilots license and we had many adventures up in the sky in those little four seat planes flying to different places to go fishing or hunting and one time I recall taking Christmas presents to a remote village. In all those flights I remember the importance of the air traffic controller. From their perspective they could see where we had been and where we were going, and they knew the altitude and heading we should take.

   God sees the obstacles in our lives and He wants to care for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God’s perspective is such that we should trust Him when it comes to judgment and salvation.

   Sometimes it takes hitting bottom to prompt a change and back in 2010 I was in a very low place in my life. I realized that my own rejection of God and selfish decisions had brought me to that place and so I didn’t want to do it my way any more. God commands us all to repent meaning to change our minds and turn around and seek after Him and so I did that. From that moment on I was cured from my addiction to cursing, a true miracle, because I could never quit on my own. I’ve made terrible choices and gone through some awful times and my life is not perfect but it does get better bit by bit. I’m still no better than anyone else but I can tell you, in all honesty, life is way better with God than without Him. I understand that I’m a broken, sinful person in need of a savior and I may never feel like it, but I’m worth the effort and that is why Jesus died for me; and He died for you as well.

   If you believe that only Jesus can save you and trust that He will do it then I would encourage you to get to know Him better. Talk to Him every day just like you would talk to a friend. Begin to read your Bible because it is the easiest way for God to respond to us. Start attending a non-denominational church that teaches what the Bible says and become involved so that you can spend time with like minded people who can support and encourage you. Get baptized so you and your new friends can celebrate the decision you have made to believe and trust the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation.

   God bless you!