We need to share

OK, we have all gotten them, you know those posts that say, “If you're really my friend post this on your profile for an hour”, or how about “let's see how many (insert your favorite here) there are out there, post this to your profile” . . .  I have a list of friends here on facebook and I want to see how many are really my friends. A friend will hear their friend out even if they don’t care about what is being said, that’s what I want you to do, read what I’ve written, all the way to the end, that’s it.

I was at a conference last weekend and one of the speakers told us that it was our responsibility to tell others about Jesus and what He did for us, the Bible tells us the same thing, but do we? I was at a restaurant for dinner tonight, my server Mike came up at the end of my meal and said I’ll go get the good news ready, when he came back he brought me the bill. I have good news for you too, but it’s not a bill, it won’t cost you anything, all you have to do is accept it.

I am reading a book called “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan, it’s a really good book. I had already decided to write this before I read the following lines: “You could die before you finish reading this chapter. I could die while you’re reading it. Today. At any moment.” Seemed to confirm that I should post this. It’s true you know, look at the obituary in tonights paper, how many say “died suddenly”? We all know it’s coming, from the day we drew our first breath our bodies started to die. Our whole life leads up to one thing, death. When we die, we have two options, heaven or hell; if we go to heaven we have eternal life, if we go to hell, we have eternal suffering. I don’t mean to be morbid here, but let’s face it, those are our choices.

It’s really a no brainer as to where we want to go, isn’t it? But how do we get there? I bet you can ask anyone, literally anyone and they will tell you that they are a good person, that they try to help others, that they haven’t done anything in their life nearly as bad as Hitler or some of the other well known bad guys, so that means that they will go to heaven, right? WRONG!! In God’s eyes, telling a tiny white lie is a bad as flying a plane into the twin towers. Sin is sin. So, now where does that put us if we were to die right now? We are all done for, right? WRONG again! First we need to realize that we are all sinners no matter how good we think we are. Once we realize that we are sinners we need to turn away from sin; that doesn't mean we become saints it just means we know who we are.

The Bible tells us that there is ONE way to get to heaven, it’s Jesus. Jesus came down to earth, He left heaven to come down here to pay the penalty for every wrong thing that you and I have ever done. He left paradise to live like one of us, knowing that He would end up nailed to a cross as punishment, our punishment. See, Jesus never sinned, all He ever did was teach and heal, just before He died He told His best friends that they would be able to do the same things that He had done, even more, and they did. All they had to do was believe that He came to save us, He came back from the grave to show them how serious He was about it.

Our life span seems like a long time when we are kids, we don’t even think about dying. As long as our bodies feel good and work like we think they are supposed to, we live out each day the way we did the day before. What goes through your mind when you get bad news at the doctor, when someone you love dies, when you get older and suddenly realize that you aren’t going to live forever? It starts to get scary, doesn’t it. Eternity IS forever, life is a blip on the screen. Where are you going to go?

All the things on this earth that we enjoy came from the same place, they are really pretty cool too if you take the time to really look at them. What we see here is nothing compared to what heaven will be like, it will also be nothing compared to what hell is like. The Bible says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” That’s it in a nutshell. That’s all we need to do, believe; invite Jesus into your heart, Jesus has already done everything else.

I told all this to you because you are my friend, and I love you and I want the end of life here on earth for all of us to be the beginning of eternity in heaven. So, that is the good news that I have for you, you can live forever in paradise, all you have to do is make a decision, if you don’t one will be made for you. If you have any questions about any of this, there are people who are available to talk to you, I’ll talk to you.

Feel free to pass this on, it’s something that everyone should hear at least once.  Did you read it all? I hope so, friend.