For our Saturday night treat we cooked hamburgers on our outdoor cooker. For a while we did not enjoy the fun of “barbecued” foods because our cooker had a rusted, burned-out burner. Finally we went to the hardware store and bought a new burner and got it installed. We thought everything was ready to cook again, but something else was wrong.
Can any of you guess why we could not begin cooking right away? I’ll tell you. We discovered the propane gas tank was empty. So we hooked up the spare tank, and then we had another surprise. It was empty too! This meant we had to make a trip to the propane filling station before we could enjoy cooking outside again.
The man at the filling station was named John. As he wrote out the ticket for the two bottles of gas, I said, “John, have you settled the question of where you will spend eternity?” You see, each of us is traveling to eternity, and where we spend it must be decided before we arrive there. Those who trust the Lord Jesus as their Saviour and have their sins washed away in His precious blood will spend eternity in heaven. Those who pass up the salvation the Lord Jesus offers will spend their eternity being punished for their own sins. They cannot go to heaven but must go into eternal punishment. The Lord Jesus said to some people who did not believe that He was the Son of God, “Whither [where] I go, ye cannot come. . . . If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:21,24).
John answered my question, “I have never given it any thought.” When I told him how important it is for each person to settle this serious question before leaving this life, John said, “I have plenty of time.”
Have you thought about receiving the Lord Jesus as your Saviour but are putting it off because you think you have plenty of time? That is one of Satan’s traps, making you think there is always time later. The Bible says, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). I reminded John that in the cemetery there are very small graves as well as large graves.
John had a co-worker who was the person who actually filled the tanks. When I asked him if he had settled the question of where he would spend eternity, he said exactly what John said. “I have never given it any thought, but I have plenty of time.”
What a dangerous way to live! No one knows when his or her life may be ended. Auto accidents, violence or even heart attacks in some who are quite young cause people of all ages to pass into eternity suddenly and without warning. Today, while there is time, is when you must respond to the wonderful invitation of the Lord Jesus: “Come unto Me . . . and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In these words the loving Saviour is telling each of us He will give rest, the forgiveness of sins, to all who come to Him. Do not be like John and his fellow worker!
The wisdom of the Bible, God’s Word, tells us, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). That means you should receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour right now! You don’t know what may happen tomorrow. The Lord Jesus loves you and wants to give you the joy of having all your sins forgiven and the peace of having made sure you will spend eternity with Him.
ML-03/23/1997