You are in the flow of the water and don’t have much time to make a choice… to make matters worse, you can’t see the rapid’s point of exit… not wanting to waste time or “lose face” in front of your fellow paddlers, you decide against climbing out and scouting the rapid from the safety of the river bank… and so, on a whim, you choose a line, commit to it and give it all you have got. As you enter the rapid you congratulate yourself on your excellent choice of approach. You begin to relax, and half way in you start to enjoy the rapid… and then it happens… you realize that you made the wrong choice… you hit the first stopper wave and then another and then that final stopper… and suddenly you are out of your boat and out of the race.

In many ways life is just like that. It flows at a fast pace… there is more than one approach, but only one is correct… nonetheless, not wanting to waste time or “lose face” in front of our peers, we don’t take the time to discern the correct approach… and so, on a whim, we choose what seems best and plunge ahead at full speed… and then it happens… we hit the first stopper wave and then another and then that final stopper… and suddenly our earthly lives come to an abrupt end.

But the story does not end there. When our earthly lives come to an end… our eternal lives start… and there are only two possible destinations… Heaven or Hell. Where we spend eternity depends on one thing only… what did we do with Jesus Christ whilst we were alive? Did we trust in Him as the Son of God and our Saviour? Or, did we reject Him, His deity and the work of salvation which He performed on the cross when He gave His life as a ransom for ours?

There can be no greater question which we need to answer this side of the grave. For, if we reject Jesus Christ this side of the grave, there is nothing which we or anybody else can do to save us once we have died.

“But, how can this be” we ask. “Surely God is a loving God and He will overlook our sins? After all we are basically good people… we haven’t murdered or raped anybody... we don’t steal, well not big things at any rate… we only tell white lies… and we look after the poor beggars. Besides, surely God knows that we are not perfect and cannot live up to His perfect standards?”

The bible is very clear on this matter. None of us are righteous (Romans 3:10); all of us have sinned and fall short of God’s standards (Romans 3:23); if we have broken one of God’s laws, we are guilty of breaking them all (James 2:10); we are not saved by our own good works but by the grace of God alone through faith in Christ Jesus alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God, by His very nature, cannot and will not tolerate our sin. He is Righteous and because of His Righteousness, He demands that sinners pay the price for breaking His laws. God will not lower His perfect standards to accommodate our imperfections. God simply cannot coexist with sin.

This point was made abundantly clear when, at the beginning of time, God created man in His own image. God had the right, as creator, to compel man to obey His laws and worship Him, but instead God gave man a free will so that man would choose to be obedient and worship Him. However, man rebelled against God, choosing to gratify his sinful desires instead of obeying God. As a result of that original act of rebellion, man became separated from God’s presence. Due to our depraved sinful natures we are incapable of finding a way to bridge the divide which separates us from God.

But, the good news is that God loved us so much that He bridged that divide Himself, when He became a man in the person of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Jesus Christ lived a perfect life on earth and later died on the cross in fulfilment of prophecy (Isaiah 53). Through His sacrificial death He paid the price, in advance, for the sins of every person who would ever turn to Him and trust in Him as their Saviour and Lord (Romans 5:8). God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, indicating that He accepted Christ’s sacrificial death as the full and final payment for the sins of everybody who confesses their sins before God; seeks His forgiveness; stops sinning and trusts in Jesus Christ as their Saviour (1 Timothy 2:5-6). As a result, God now calls every man, everywhere to be reconciled to Him (2 Corinthians 5:20).

If we ignore God’s call on our lives and choose to continue sinning, we effectively reject Jesus Christ. When we reject Jesus Christ we bring condemnation upon ourselves and effectively choose Hell as our final destination (John 3:18-19). However, if we turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and trust in Him as our Saviour and the Lord of our lives, we can be certain that our final destination will be an eternity in His presence in Heaven (John 3:16).

Don’t be fooled. Merely believing at an intellectual level that Jesus Christ is able to save us is not sufficient. We have to believe it with all our hearts and turn to Jesus Christ, trusting in Him to save us.

“What is the difference”, we may ask. The difference lies in the way we act and live. Intellectual belief on its own does not lead to a change in our lives and thus, we continue to act as we did before. However, when we believe with all our hearts that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and Lord, our lives change and consistent with that change we begin to act differently. We no longer do, say or think the things we used to.

And so, fellow paddlers, knowing that our eternal destiny is at stake here, which approach are we going to choose?

As we approach that final stopper wave in our lives, let’s pay heed to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ… “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

If you are feeling convicted by these words and do not how to proceed, may I suggest that you go before God and admit that you are a sinner; seek His forgiveness; thank Him for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price for your sins; place your trust in Him and submit to His authority in your life. There are no magical words that you have to use. God is more concerned about the attitude of your heart than the words that you use.

The bible clearly teaches that once you have committed your life to Christ, your eternal destiny is secure (John 6:47).

If you have any questions or comments or would like to discuss this matter further, please feel free to contact me, I would love to hear from you.