Wednesday, November 23, 2016
How good are you at giving directions? While I was at a local mall store waiting for my wife to complete a purchase yesterday, the lady behind her answered her phone and started trying to give directions to her friend that was at the same store but in another section. The lady was probably a minute away but it took her friend several minutes to tell her exactly where she was. She kept saying “Just keep going past the Jewelry section.” What she didn’t realize was that her friend could have gone past that section in four different directions. She was getting frustrated that her friend didn’t understand her and one time even said “I’m over here!” If she had told her at the beginning that she was at the service counter where the winter coats and jackets were, it would have taken her less than ten seconds and her friend would have arrived in less than a minute.
That scene reminded me a of a testimony Billy Graham shared many years ago. He told the story of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. Wanting to mail a letter in those days, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, "If you will come to church tonight, I will tell you how you can get to Heaven." The little boy thought about it for a moment and said, "No, thank you, sir, I don’t think I will be there. You don’t even know how to get to the post office!"
Regardless of how good we are at giving directions on earth, as children of God we should be able to tell others how to get to Heaven. In the 14th Chapter of John, we read where Jesus was telling His Disciples that He was going back to Heaven and that, while there, He was going to prepare a place for them so they could be with Him one day. He added: “You know the way to the place where I am going.” (verse 4) When Thomas replied: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”, (vs 5) Jesus answered: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (vs 6) Thomas had to have been a special man if Christ called him to be His Disciple, yet He couldn’t figure out that when Jesus told them He was going to His Father’s house, He really meant Heaven. Perhaps that was the reason he didn’t know where his Master was going. That is why Jesus made this as plain as plain can be: If we know Him, we know the way to Heaven. What? I’m sure you didn’t think the Lord would save us and then leave it up to us to see if we could find our own way to Heaven. It’s as if Christ is telling us: “Don’t worry about getting to Heaven, I’ll take you there myself.” How simple is that? Want to get your friends and loved ones to join you in Heaven someday. Tell them about Jesus! Now, those are simple directions.
God’s promise for today: (Luke 10:20) “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.”
