The two young hikers made a rest stop at a very beautiful part of the trail. Looking about, John said to Bob, "This spot will all be spoiled in a few years' time. The developer will invade it and giant oaks and clear streams will be blotted out, and houses and stores and parking lots will take their places. But that is the way everything that is beautiful in this world goes. Everything gets spoiled. And then there's the bomb! Life in this world just isn't worth living."
Bob agreed with him up to a point, but suddenly a question flashed into his mind and he spoke out loud: "I wonder if life in the next world will be any better for us?"
John argued against there being another life and a "next world," and declared with all the assurance of ignorance that when a man died that was the end of him.
But the sudden thought had so startled Bob that he could not shake off a feeling of anxiety. "The next world!" He must find out something about that, and at once, but where should he turn for information? He would try the Bible, and so that Saturday night he started at the beginning of the New Testament and read on for hours.
The first result of that prolonged reading of that wonderful Book was that a deep conviction laid hold of him that God is, and that he had to give an account to Him as to how he had spent this life. He did not sleep much that night, but he made a choice. He decided between heaven and hell, and his definite choice was "Heaven for me!"
Now as he continued to read, another truth gripped him. He discovered that a wonderful person, spoken of as "Jesus," the "Savior," "the only begotten Son of God" and the "Lord Jesus Christ," had made a great sacrifice in order to save him from hell and win him for heaven. There could be no doubt about this, for he read: "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10). "Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6). "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). And, "This a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 1 Timothy 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15).
Then Bob made another decision on his knees. He said, "Lord Jesus, if Thou didst make this great sacrifice to save me, the only right thing for me to do is to thank Thee for dying for me and to yield my soul and life to Thee. I do it now."
That was a grand decision and it changed his whole outlook. It not only gave him a bright prospect for "the next world," but it made this life worth living too. Ever after this one thought governed him: "The Son of God loved me, and made a great sacrifice for me, and from now on I want to live for Him."