To My Facebook Friends
To (not most but) Some Facebook Friends,
When I was about 10-12 years old I lit a small fire in the basement of our small, rather old house. Just playing around. Bored, I guess. Because there was always paperboys in our large catholic family, there was plenty of fuel from leftover “Windsor Star” newspapers.
After lighting the small fire, I smothered it with a canvas bag we used to carry newspapers on our routes. No harm done. A bigger fire also proved no challenge. So it was bigger and bigger until oh-oh!, this fire is getting away on me! I desperately beat on it, but it spread outward and upward toward the flammable floor joists just above my head. I was in big trouble. Should the old house catch on fire we would all be homeless in an hour. But no way was I going to yell for help; punishment back then meant a very battered butt. Using all my powers, I overcome the flames. Whew! I never played with fire again.
I know what you’re thinking, that was dumb, dumb, dumb! Yes, playing with fire is foolish. But – speaking to those not yet “born of the Spirit” – isn’t that what you are doing? Aren’t you playing with fire?
Have you noticed how often Jesus warned of “fire”? Listen to Him…. “Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the FIRE”; “He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable FIRE”; “Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell FIRE”; “All the tares are gathered and burned in the FIRE”; “Cast them into the furnace of FIRE. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth”; “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the FIRE”.
The Bible often speaks of Gehennah, “the lake of FIRE”. This lake isn’t a pool or pond; it’s a huge sea. A huge sea of fire. A fire that can’t be smothered with a paperboy’s canvas bag. All the world’s firetrucks together couldn’t douse it. We’re talking an unquenchable, everlasting fire. Soon to be full of people. This is the fire you are playing with.
I once asked Lord Jesus to show me hell, thinking it would make me more passionate for the countless multitude heading there. But then I retracted that prayer. Such a sight might ruin me. Jesus gave a close friend a taste of hell whereby he experienced the eternal hopelessness of those there. “How did it affect you?” I wanted to know. “I screamed”, my friend replied.
You are not a foolish 10-12 year old. You have the ability to reason – to think, think, think! You may not have the confidence I have in the Bible, but you can’t ignore all the evidence that points to its authenticity. Only the supremely ignorant would tell you it’s just another book. If you admit to even a 10% chance the Bible could be accurate, you must likewise admit you are indeed playing with fire.
So just how does one get ‘fire insurance’, assurance that when life on earth passes you will never end up in that place of eternal torment? There is only one answer and you know what (Who) it is. I freely admit I cannot understand hell. If I were God I wouldn’t keep the worse sinner in hell longer than a minute. Two at the most. But I am not God. As I don’t understand His love, I don’t understand His justice and holiness. No one is more loving and more severe than God; Calvary fully verifies His love; hell fully verifies His severity. (Paul: “Consider the goodness and severity of God.”)
When will you learn that there is no success outside of Jesus Christ? Only Christ can fulfill the longings of your heart. Once you get to heaven all regrets, all doubts, all heaviness will instantly dissolve. No boredom, no insecurities, no anxieties. Got it?