Flattened Squirrels and Heaven

A thought that planted into my head for a while is this: You cannot take anyone with you.

We human beings, have to do some things on our own, even if we are “people people” and travel in crowds. For instance, being born is a singular event, even if it is twins, they come through the birth canal one at a time. Dying is a singular event, you can hold that person as they are breathing their last, but you cannot go with them or do it for them. Going through an illness is a singular event – all of these things touch other people’s lives, but humanly speaking, each individual person has to make the trek alone. I cannot do it for you, nor can you do it for me.

Salvation is also a singular event, I cannot say the words to God for you, and you cannot hang onto me and have me drag you into heaven. As much as I want to march my children right to the gates and usher them in, they and you have to ultimately make this decision and choice for yourself.

It turns out, I or others can possibly lead you astray, or inconclusive by our actions and words. If the two do not mesh together, my life and my words, it can leave people confused. If I say I am a Christian but do not care enough about you to tell you, how is that caring? Or if you see me preach caring but do not take the time to actually care, how is that loving? There you stand in a panicked state of indecisiveness, head bobbing to the right or left trying to decide if heaven or hell is true before you cross the highway into eternity, head swinging so fast that you did not see the oncoming disaster, just like flattened squirrels on the road. Tragic and it could have been prevented.

This is a huge warning to us as people to be very careful what we do and say because others are watching. We have to be so mindful of details:  do others truly understand what we are saying or have we left it “loosey goosey” and they are unclear about exactly what we stand for, because we did not want to offend them, or tick them off, or have them not like us or even worse we think it is really not our business what they believe. That is so Canadian, do not “offend” people – this is their very eternity we are talking about! It is more than the risk of offending or feeling uncomfortable – Jesus was not comfortable on the cross, being mocked, hit or spit upon.

Jesus was pretty clear when He said, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to

all creation.”

Into all the world includes our family, our neighborhoods, our country and the whole world.

Are you aware that in Canada there are many people who have never heard about Jesus? We now have people coming to Canada to be missionaries to tell us about God. We have fallen that far. From a country that was founded on Biblical principles that still line the corridors and monuments in Ottawa as a reminder to our history.

People do not even know this because they do not teach it anymore and we do not speak it. My dad used to say that anyone born in Canada is a Christian because our country was “Christian”, that is not true, and especially not true now when so many would not even have a clue what he meant.

What could possibly be more important than the question: “Where are you spending eternity?”  Or “Are you prepared to die?” It is a fact of life that you will at some point die, if you are human, you have a set number of days on this earth. It is a very loving thing to find out the answers to these questions, it shows you care.

There is something to those old-fashioned preachers who would not let you leave the building at a crusade without making a decision about life, hell, and Jesus that day, stating that God does not owe you another breath! They wanted you to know and to make a decisive decision, no wishy washy, warm and gushy sentiments that leave you in the middle of the road – head bopping right and left, unsure of which way to go.

Where are you going to spend eternity? Two choices: heaven, hell and it is your choice.

But God provided an answer, He came down from heaven to earth to lead the way, He did not leave you hanging. Pick up a Bible and read the gospel of John.

I realize I am hitting hard this week but a couple things happened that showed me, I cannot afford to be complacent or unclear in what I say or how I live my life. Others are watching and if I say I live my life for God and follow God, then my life should show it. My lips should speak it. I do not want people wondering where I stand on the issue of God, but more important, I do not want God to wonder where I stand on the issue of Him.

If we believe that God is who He is, we need to take Him at His word.  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel”, will you? You partner with God and God will answer, He does the heavy lifting, because all we do is plant the seeds, God makes them grow. He is the gardener, the shepherd of the flock, we simply lead people to Him. Who are you leading? Who do you need to lead?

"God is able to do exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine"  Ephesians 3:20 – that is His word, do we believe it in the lives of others around us. Walk the walk, talk the talk.