I had an older lady (who was very dear to me and very ill) say to me through tears, “The one thing I fear most is that my son and his family will go to hell.” In her older years, she started to read her Bible and listen to preachers who spoke truth. She was one of the most moral people I had ever known. She looked at me one day and said she had found out a great truth, “Good people don’t go to heaven, born again people go to heaven.”
“Her greatest regret was raising moral children who did not know God and didn’t know they needed to.”
Her greatest regret was raising moral children who did not know God and didn’t know they needed to. I told her one day as we visited that she should write her son a letter, put it away, tell me where it was, and I would give it to him after she died (yes, I said the words “after you die”). It’s the elephant in the room no one wants to address. We all have an appointment with death (unless Jesus comes back first). She gave her son a great mother and wonderful home life, but left out the only thing that matters in the end; eternal life.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 5:12
People think I’m blunt and to the point. God is the King of blunt.
- Son = life.
- No Son = no life.
We are all born dead.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins….
Ephesians 2:1
“Every little baby who comes from the womb of its mother is alive physically but dead to its Creator.”
Every little baby who comes from the womb of its mother is alive physically but dead to its Creator. I call them little sinner babies. They come into the world with cravings. Left unchecked, they become children that are unbearable, and then adults that darken the world and suck the life out of everyone around them.
“Why? Because they have “no life” in them.”
Why? Because they have “no life” in them. They are empty and have no idea why they ache and crave for something to make them full. They get married and get disappointed. They have children and get tired. They get old and have fight to stay young. All the while, God has made a way to give them life and give it to the full.
I have talked to people who have no interest in God. They are usually a little irritable. They think they are a little smarter than you average Joe (and sometimes are). They remind me of this C.S. Lewis quote:
“I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.”
Life kind of stinks without God. Youth holds so many hopes and dreams. They have the future to look forward to until they get there.
- Independence
- Doing and buying whatever I want.
- Reality: Finding out groceries don’t buy themselves and a house also means a mortgage.
- Doing and buying whatever I want.
- Marriage
- Lots of sex in a man’s mind.
- Lots of cuddles and talking in a woman’s mind.
- Rude awakening for both.
- Children
- The cute newborns that people post on Facebook.
- Not the real ones that poop, scream, won’t eat veggies, and defy you all day long.
- The cute newborns that people post on Facebook.
- Career
- Lots of money, praise, and fun at the office.
- Reality is vying for position and egos fighting each other.
- Lots of money, praise, and fun at the office.
“By the time our children reach 20 years old, the disappointment is usually overwhelming.”
By the time our children reach 20 years old, the disappointment is usually overwhelming. Why? They have physical life and are fighting hard to make it satisfy them. They have no spiritual life and no matter how they try to fill the void; it’s still there. As a matter of fact, the more you try to cram into the abyss of your soul, the bigger it gets and the more angry it becomes.
It sets its sights on something or someone and acquires it. For a little sliver of time, the soul feels full. We will cling to that thing and fight for it. We will usually suck the life out of who or what it is. Once the honeymoon phase is over and people are sick of each other, we will make them feel guilty for not loving us as they should (I did this to my poor husband).
“Then we will often hate that thing or person because it disappointed us and (in our minds) left us empty.”
Then we will often hate that thing or person because it disappointed us and (in our minds) left us empty. We have no idea that the void left in us when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden is God-sized; which is infinite. If we put the whole world and all its glory inside our soul, it would burp and say, “What else you got?”
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
– C.S. Lewis
Our bodies take up a finite amount of space. The real part of us (our soul) is made in the image of God (who is Spirit). We live in our bodies but who we really are is not observable with the human eye. That’s why a bad attitude will fill a room and change the entire atmosphere.
God has given us everything we need to believe in both His goodness and His power.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:20
- Eternal power
- Divine nature
“Through what God has made we can plainly see Him who is invisible.”
Through what God has made we can plainly see Him who is invisible. Just as an artist is known by what he creates, so God is known through His creation. We see incredible power and goodness all around us every single day. Every person on planet earth is without excuse. Life is found in the One who created us and nowhere else.
We are all born dead. Therefore, we must be born again.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
John 3:3
No one. No good person will go to heaven because they don’t exist. We are all born with hell and death in us. Any two-year-old would kill us if they had the ability when we really tick them off. Where does that desire to hurt people when we don’t get our way come from? It’s from inside of us. It’s the deep, black, darkness that needs the life of God deposited to bring both Light and Life.
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 1:4
Just as the moon has no light, neither do we. The light of the moon is the sun. The Light of mankind has only one source; the Son of God.
To be born again and have God’s Light in us is the greatest miracle that will ever happen to a person.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5
One of the reasons the world is being overcome by darkness is this. Many people who claim Christ are simply moral people who have never been born again. No matter how well we behave, we are still dark inside. Darkness cannot drive out darkness.
If you are reading this and you can’t stand Christ or Christians, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the way we all, at times, misrepresent Him.
If someone who loves you has posted this, please don’t be offended. They are probably afraid to speak to you themselves. Even though she loved her son, my friend never wrote the letter. I looked for it after she died. She was so precious and respected and I knew her words would impact her son like no one else’s. I don’t think she expected time to pass so quickly.
I wrote this in honor of that woman I loved so much. Maybe this blog will be shared and somebody else’s son will read it and come to know Christ. Who knows, in the world of technology, maybe her son will read it.
When God puts His Spirit in a person, it’s a miracle. No one can make that happen. However, Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15).
We preach His gospel as He told us to. The results come from Him alone. Never underestimate the weight and glory of the simple Gospel. All the power of God is wrapped up in it.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes….
Romans 1:16
