Heaven is NOT for Dummies
Even though I am not the brightest turnip in the tree, it has occurred to me that many good people are under the impression that in order to get into Heaven, all they have to do is be good. Help others, do good things, think good thoughts, don't lie, don't kill your neighbor or covet his wife and things like that.
Those ARE great thoughts. Certainly worth the effort to accomplish. The world would be much better off if we all thought and acted in that manner. In fact, if our ancestors had lived their lives in accordance with thoughts and deeds like this, their descendants (including us) would have been led to seek even greater ways to promote peace, love, harmony and unity among our fellow human-beings. Instead of how to hate them.
Along the way to that knowledge, we would surely have been introduced to the Word of God, the Holy Bible. If that had happened, we would have read and learned that the ONLY way to Heaven is through Jesus. We would have also learned that nothing we do (or don't do) will gain our entry into Heaven. We can ONLY get there through the Grace of God. Period.
Former U.S. Presidential candidate Ross Perot liked to refer to “that giant sucking sound” when he was talking about things that he saw that needed correcting. That phrase could also accurately describe the wind being sucked out of the sails of those relying on their deeds to float them into Heaven when they learn the truth about God's provision for entry. Bummer!
The “Good News”, double-entendre intended, is that God loves you and has made it so easy to get into Heaven that the devil has clouded our eyes and we have over-looked it.
All we have to do is to believe that we (mankind, and us as individuals) are sinners and that Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice (penance, if you will) that paid the penalty for our sins.
In Jesus' time on Earth, as a Jew, it was common practice to choose a lamb, pure and unblemished, to be sacrificed so that sins could be forgiven. Jesus was born and lived here on this Earth solely to be the sacrificial “Lamb of God” who would die for the sins of mankind.
God's only requirements for the salvation of mankind was that we believe we are sinners, that Jesus' blood was shed so that our sins would be forgiven, that Jesus was resurrected after his death, that He will return to Earth to bring us to Heaven to be with Him for eternity and that we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Without being the slightest bit disrespectful of the deeds and lives of the millions of good folks who feel they have done all they need to do to get into Heaven when the time comes, I would tell each of them, “if you are unwilling to hear the words of the Lord and open your eyes, you are a dummy”.
Heaven will not be populated by dummies. The dummies (those that refuse to hear the words of the Lord) will be inhabiting the “other” place where I understand it's quite a bit hotter. Your choice. Please make the right one.
