Your Most Important Investment
Can anyone really know for sure that when they die they will go to Heaven?
The Bible says, “YES!”
When I was nine years old, my mother was diagnosed with a rare heart disease and told that she had no more than two years to live. Thankfully she outlived the doctor’s prognosis by 12 years, but nonetheless came to an untimely end. However, I knew for sure that my mom would spend eternity with God in heaven.
My job as a financial advisor is to help people to build and protect their financial assets. But there is a kind of long-range planning that is much more important than finances.
Jesus said, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37).
You can have all of the money in the world and still lose your soul. If death came knocking at your door suddenly, would you be ready? The time of our death is impossible to predict, but the fact that we will die is a certainty. If you were to die today, how sure are you that you would go to Heaven? 30%? 50%? 80%?
And if God asked you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?, what would you tell Him?
Is there a right answer? The Bible says there is. It is all about what you are trusting to get you to heaven. Some people trust in their good life. Some trust in religious activities. But the Bible says the only way to heaven is through trusting in Jesus to get us there.
The Bible says that while God loves every person in the world (John 3:16), every person in the world is separated from God by sin (Romans 3:23). Sin is anything that does not measure up to God’s perfect standard. All of us sin every single day.
People try all kinds of ways to reach God: going to church, synagogue or mosque, trying to live right by our fellow man. These are all good things, but they will not get us to God. Sin has created a deep canyon with God on one side and man on the other. On our own, there is no way to cross that divide. On our own, we would be separated from God for eternity.
Your most important investment is the placement of your Trust.
God has one solution to get us into a relationship with himself. Since there was no way that we could ever reach God by our own efforts, he came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus is God’s Son. He demonstrated his deity by performing miracles: healing the sick and lame and even raising the dead (see the book of John in the Bible).
Jesus lived a sinless life, but then he was nailed to a wooden cross and died for our sins (1Peter 2:22-24). When Jesus hung on that cross, his Father took the sins of the world and poured them out on Jesus. He died in our place, as our substitute.
Three days later, he rose from the dead having conquered sin and death (1 Corinthians 15). Now he offers eternal life as a free gift to all who believe in him (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 6:23, John 3:16). Do you?
Make Your Most Important Investment Now
Can you know for sure where you will spend eternity? The Bible says, “yes.”
1. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? 2. Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross paying the penalty for your sins? 3. Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? 4. Are you trusting in him alone to forgive your sins and give you eternal life?
If you answer yes to all four of those questions, the Bible says that you will have eternal life after physical death.
I encourage you to place your trust in Jesus now. Believe that he is God, that he died on the cross for your sins, and that he rose from the dead. Trust in Jesus alone to forgive your sins and give you eternal life. Take a moment to tell God that you are trusting in Jesus alone for eternal life. The Bible says that those who believe in Jesus, have eternal life (John 5:24), and that means you can know for sure you will go to heaven. I’ll see you there!
Recommended Reading
These books may help you come to a better understanding of God’s purpose for your life: the book of John in the Bible; More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell. |