I haven’t lived a bad life. I mean not bad bad.
Never stole from anybody, beaten anyone up, raped anyone! Love my wife and kids.
Have mostly paid my taxes. Had a few girls but that’s just part of growing up…right?
God will let me into heaven…won’t He? He knows I’ve lived a pretty good life.
Around we go
With another volunteer I was doing ‘my rounds’ at a public hospital pushing a hospital auxiliary trolley from the gift shop selling newspapers and magazines, chocolates, chips and other confectionary to patients and visitors alike in all wards, raising money for the auxiliary to purchase medical equipment.
In various ways it raises hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. The money is fully spent purchasing equipment for the different wards. Each year a hospital staff representative attends the auxiliary’s annual general meeting with her wish list.
On our trolley run John and I often joke lightheartedly with the patients selling them soft drinks and iced coffee, sometimes saying that if they don’t finish their good healthy Coke before discharge and they have a blocked drain at home, just pour it down the sink and…problem solved.
Such banter lightens their day which we could get away with amidst laughter without stepping over the line. The terrific nursing staff don’t seem to mind that we sometimes ‘lighten someone’s load’ for them.
A recent purchase of a state-of-the-art humidy-crib cost tens of thousands of dollars. A very grateful specialist doctor stopped us in one of the wide corridors and warmly thanked us for what the auxiliary had done for his specialty, making it all worthwhile and about which we felt good.
Danny
I entered a two-bed ward with dividing curtains drawn asking if anyone wanted to purchase something from the shop-trolley - ‘no’, so I quickly left only to be called back by an old client I had not recognised. He was puffy probably because of his medication. We chatted briefly and his lady told me quietly that his PSA was around 250 when an acceptable reading was about 4-6 depending on one’s personal doctor.
Before departing his room Danny (not his real name - nhrn) cheerily said:- ‘I’m leaving for heaven soon. I’ve lived a pretty good life’. Tragically, such commonplace debits-and-credits thinking is irrelevant. Solely what matters to God is our response to Jesus’ brutal substitutionary death for us and His spectacular resurrection.
“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that ‘whosoever’ believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life”. (John chapter 3 verse 16).
Months later we were enjoying coffee at their small riverside village cafe. Quietly I enquired about Danny. He had died some months before.
A memorial dinner
Later, Jan and I attended a memorial dinner for Brian (nhrn). For many years with him and others we had learnt dancing. During that time I had never detected in him the slightest hint of Bible-believing spirituality. A very friendly 74 year old but Brian’s lengthy lifestyle with male friends had apparently ‘had its way’ with him.
Alex (nhrn) and his gracious elderly wife had also learnt dancing and she too was at the dinner. We had recently attended Alex’s funeral he having died within days of Brian. In stark contrast to Brian however, Alex was undoubtedly one of God’s own.
His widow was heard to say that Alex and Brian were now happily enjoying heaven together, a statement we had grave doubts about but it was not for us to speculate.
What God says
“Sodom and Gomorrah gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion…these dreamers pollute their own bodies and reject God’s authority, [being like] autumn trees without fruit…God will convict all the ungodly who follow their own evil desires”. (Jude verses 4-16).
He says that: “by their actions they deny Him”. (Titus chapter 1 verse 16). As actions speak louder than words it’s said that if we characterise people by their actions we
will never be fooled by their words.
John the Baptist witheringly rebuked the hypocritical religious leaders of his day for failing to: “produce fruit [by speech and action] in keeping with repentance”.
(Matthew chapter 3 verse 8).
Universal salvation?
Tragically widespread is the abysmal ignorance displayed by Alex’s widow. Does virtually everyone go to heaven except people like Hitler, Stalin and drug dealers like El Chapo from Columbia? Doesn’t it matter that most people ignore God throughout life knowing zero about Him and most significantly, not knowing Him? Universal salvation is emphatically unbiblical. Even Satan knows God but only as an enemy and is not in heaven with Alex.
Sadly Danny, Brian and Alex’s widow did not know God. Shockingly, through self-imposed ignorance they did not know ‘what’ they did not know, and did not know ‘Who’ they did not know.
Seek and find
Jesus tells us we should: “seek and you will find [Himself], knock and the door will be opened to you”. (Matthew chapter 7 verse 7). About 2,800 years ago the same message was told by the prophet Jeremiah when he wrote that God says: “You will seek Me and find Me ‘when’ you seek Me with all your heart. I ‘will’ be found by you. (Jeremiah chapter 29 verses 13/14).
Just as wilful ignorance of the law is no excuse in the courtroom so wilful ignorance of God is no excuse before Him either, and so it will be a: “dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” in a state of complete unpreparedness (Hebrews chapter 10 verse 31). That only ushers in everlasting devastation. Avoid it at all cost.
Gavin Lawrie is a retired Barrister and Solicitor from Tweed Heads NSW Australia and author of the book: 'THE EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION: Uncovering The Faulty Science Of Dawkins' Attack On Creationism'. He is married to Jan with two adult children and they are grandparents.
Gavin Lawrie's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/gavin-lawrie.html
