Last time I noted the ‘cry’ in every living person for SURVIVAL and SATISFACTION. It begins in the womb, and is evident in every “hunger and thirst” throughout life.
Solomon wrote that God has “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This explains our longing to live, and our awareness of “something more” than this transient life.
This is why the thought of HEAVEN appeals to us. We anticipate ETERNAL “life and life to the full” there.
This God-created yearning is evident even in those who want little or nothing to do with Jesus. Yet Jesus clearly stated that it is deception to assume heaven is ours while avoiding Him. He said, “Anyone who is not with me is against me.” We need righteousness through Jesus; this prepares us for entrance to Heaven (John 14:6).
With our God-given free-will we believe Jesus, or will choose our own path. Confidence before God is only assured as we believe what He said.
And, God has spoken clearly: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).
This raises a RED FLAG! Mere warm feelings of heaven do not get us there, any more than mere warm feelings about Pizza Hut’s ‘Meat Lover’s’ pizza fills our stomach. To survive and be satisfied we must respond to our hunger (our ‘cry’) by executing a plan to partake and live.
To have eternal life we need to turn from sin. Believing Jesus is demonstrated by placing faith in Him to save us from sin. God’s promise of life is to all, “who did receive Him, who believed in His name, [to them] He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
How serious is this clarification? Feeling comfortable with ‘spiritual’ feelings while avoiding God by suppressing His truth results in eternal loss. Our feelings can lie to us.
He speaks to us: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them…so that men are without excuse” (Romans 118-20).
It has been said, “If we do not care enough about truth to search for it, we will never find it – a principle as true in spiritual matters as it is in science” (Dr. Walter Thorsen). Choosing to not pursue any particular field of knowledge is our prerogative, but to neglect knowing Jesus results in not going to heaven. In the end, God is merely honoring our choice.
Let’s listen to the ‘cry of the heart’. Let’s not suppress the truth God spoke. Jesus’ promise of “life and life to the full” will be fully experienced in Heaven.
“Are you with me?”
Pastor Bill Terris