The one way street of eternity

“Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.”
-Proverbs 4:13

Have you ever driven the wrong way on a one-way street? The only time I can recall doing it was on the way to a tennis tournament, when our bus driver overlooked the sign, and turned left when she should have turned right. Luckily, no one was there. I’ve probably done it myself some other time, but this is the one that comes to mind.

On several occasions have I been going the right way down a one-way street and seen someone coming the wrong way at me. That is a frightening experience. In all cases was a crash easily avoided – the other driver wasn’t drunk or anything, he was just trying to take a shortcut. But when you see someone coming at you, and you don’t know his state of mind, it’s frightening.

When we drive, we constantly see signs that could literally mean life-or-death for us. A one-way street is a great example. We have large signs warning us of dead-ends so we don’t drive into a lake. Stop lights warn us that another car has the right-of-way.

Most of us look for these signs and obey their instructions. We understand the danger in ignoring them. There are many who do no such thing. In Texas, where I live, we have a big problem with drunk driving. It seems like there is another news story about a drinking-related fatality every few days.

It does surprise me, though, with so many people being so careful with their mortal lives, that we don’t have more people worrying about eternity. We take such care to not lose a moment of the eighty-so years we have on earth, but we don’t give much thought to the forever that begins after these eighty-so years are done. It’s like 99% of the population is driving drunk spiritually.

The Bible is our warning. It is that sign that tells us we’re going the wrong way on the road to eternity. It gives us a list of things that God expects of us. It tells us some very basic things, like we shouldn’t steal or lie or kill people, things most of us would admit aren’t good.

But then it tells us that God expects us to follow these rules perfectly. And more than that, God tells us that He will also judge our hearts, and those things like lust, pride, selfishness, and hatred are enough to get us to hell.

So many people just assume that they are fine with God. They just figure they are good enough, and they don’t worry about it. If you are doing this, you are ignoring that warning sign when eternity is on the line.

The truth is this – none of us are good enough. There is no one who has not messed up in thought, word, and deed. There isn’t anyone who has achieved God’s standard for goodness.

This is so critical to understand, because when you understand this, you will also understand why trying to be a good person will not get you to eternal life. You’ll understand why not all religions are leading you to God. You can’t just get it right most of the time and make it.

But in the death of Jesus we have a way to life. Jesus lived a perfect life and did not deserve death, but He died in our stead. It is through Him that we can get to the Father, by repenting of our sins and believing in Him, and it is ONLY through Him that we can make it. Any way that requires us to be good enough isn’t going to work.

Once you have this bit of wisdom, this instruction, hold on to her! We are saved by His Blood, by His Grace, and we never stop being saved by that Grace. Even though I’ve been a Christian for years, I still mess up constantly. But the Blood of Christ still saves me, and it is ONLY by that Blood. It is a truth I cling to, because without it I have no hope.