It was a school holiday, and three brothers, Brian, Robert, Matthew (ages 13, 11 and 9), their dog Abby and a friend from school named John had gone into the woods to play. The boys had played in those woods many times, and two of them had wilderness training. There didn’t seem to be anything to fear.
The boys were having a great time until it started raining. They decided they should head for home, but then they tried to take a shortcut. Instead of finding their way out more quickly, they got completely lost.
John, leaving the three brothers and their dog, managed to find his way out of the woods while it was still light enough to see. He reported that the boys were lost in the woods, and a search began immediately. Hundreds of people went out that cold, rainy night, but the search finally had to be called off until morning light and the boys were still not found. Everyone was worried. The boys had been out in the woods since 10:30 that morning. How long could they survive in pouring rain when it was only 38 degrees and there were 30-mile-per-hour winds?
Meanwhile, Brian, Robert, Matthew and their dog had struggled on, trudging through swamp water as they looked for their way home. As darkness came and they got colder, the boys finally took shelter from the wind and rain under a tree. They huddled together for warmth and waited. Would they ever be found? A good dinner and a warm bed would be so nice!
As soon as it was light enough to see the next morning, the search for the three brothers began again. Searchers called the boys’ names as they went deep into the woods. Several hours later two police officers wading through a swamp heard an answer to their call! They found the boys where they were huddled under the tree, with Abby faithfully standing guard nearby.
Have you ever taken a wrong way and gotten lost? It can be very scary! But there is one wrong way that is the most important wrong way never to take, and that is taking the wrong way to try to get heaven. God’s book, the Bible, makes it very clear that there is only one way to heaven. It tells us that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: [no one comes] unto the Father but by Me” (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)). This verse clearly tells us that there is no other way to heaven than Jesus. Jesus and the work He did on the cross is the only way for us to be forgiven of our sins and to go to heaven.
The Bible also tells us, “There is a way which [seems] right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:1212There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12)). Like the boys and their shortcut, there are a lot of ways that people think will get them to heaven, and they may seem like good ways to them. Sadly, those ways will all end in death forever if they are not God’s way of believing in Jesus. I hope you will think about whether you are on the right way to heaven or not — today!
Messages of God’s Love 8/10/2025