There was a frog that absolutely knew his destiny
was to turn in to a handsome young prince. But for confirmation, he decided to
visit a fortuneteller. The fortuneteller brought the frog in and gazed into her
crystal ball. She said, “Oh, I see something. You are going to meet a beautiful
young woman.”
The frog
gets very antsy, “Yes, I knew it. I’m going to become a prince.”
The
fortuneteller continues, “From the moment she sets eyes on you she will have an
insatiable desire to know all about you. She will be compelled to get close to
you--you’ll fascinate her."
The frog
is very excited. He asks, “Where am I? At a party? A restaurant? A book store?”
The
fortuneteller answers, “No, Biology class.”
The frog BELIEVED he was on the path to happiness,
fortune, position and glory. With ALL
HIS HEART he believed. He so believed
that even as the fortune teller described his future the amphibian was seeing
what he wanted to see, hearing through the lens of the believed destiny. He filled in the blanks with pictures that
came from desire rather than truth. His
belief actually blinded him to truth.
Wow!
Did the fact that he believed with all his heart
change his destiny? Nope. Truth was still true.
How many of us see our future through the lens of
desire rather than truth? It paints a
picture that is wonderful but is a fairy tale.
There is a popular religious philosophy called
“Universalism” that paints a fairy tale picture. And that fairy tale is
embraced by many. Universalism states
that everyone will eventually go to Heaven. Everyone, without exception, will
be reconciled with God and enjoy eternity in everlasting blessedness. Sounds appealing because we don’t like to
think of anyone we care about missing Heaven and entering Hell. But what does truth say? Over and over in Jesus’ teaching and that of the
other New Testament writers we read that ONLY those who turn to God will go to
Heaven. In fact, Jesus says it is only a
comparable FEW!! Jesus’ words, not mine.
“Enter
through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to
life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
Who are the "few" who find the road that leads to Heaven? Read on.
21“Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?’ 23Then I will tell
them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)
Those who KNOW Jesus and, as a result, do the will
of God are the few who go to Heaven.
Exclusively.
Fairy tale or truth.
Someday we will stand before He Who is THE
Truth. Many will face it shocked and
wide eyed like the frog as Jesus says “I never knew you” and go to eternal pain
in Hell. Few will feel their hearts jump when Jesus welcomes them into
Heaven. At that point, all that matters
is TRUTH.
What are you living? Seriously, don’t get smug and flippant. Take a hard look. Are you really, really doing the desires of
God out of loving relationship? No
excuses, no “oh, God will understand,” no twisting Jesus’ words even a little
bit. Simply a very hard look into
TRUTH. Better now than later.
Because the truth is what matters.
Frog or follower?
Boldly, Herb
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