This is what matters most

This, my friends, is what matters most.
What I have to tell you right here, right now is more important than anything you will ever do in your lifetime. As a journalist, it’s the most important message I can convey. Yes, I am biased where this issue is concerned. Yes, I have been objective and reached my own conclusions after much study and investigation.
This message is more important than your next meal, the clothes you wear or the place where you will retire this evening to rest your head.
What you do with this information is up to you, but suffice it to say that there are life and death consequences involved. I’d dare say that it goes beyond that. I would be remiss if I didn’t bring to you this most important news of all time.
I do mean “all time.” I’m not exaggerating.
I was thinking the other day about what the most important things are in life. I’ve had a hard time of it the last few years and have lost a lot. I was looking for things to be thankful for while listening to the words of Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA” that say “If I had to start again with just my children and my wife …” It made me think about what is truly important – most important.
I wouldn’t want to start over without my wife and four children. But what of my possessions could I do without? I had to leave plenty of stuff behind when I moved from Amarillo. Even now I am slowly culling the junk from the keepers in the hundreds of boxes we brought with us.
As I thought about all the things I wanted or could do without, it occurred to me that there is one thing even more important to me than my wife and children. It should be the most important thing to everyone on the planet, especially you.
This thing of which I speak is one’s relationship with Jesus Christ.
Please, don’t tune me out just yet. You owe it to yourself to hear what I have to say. You may never have another chance.
Am I proselytizing here?
Guilty.
Am I taking advantage of my bully pulpit?
You bet.
Am I an enthusiastic new convert?
No. I’ve been a baptized, born again believer since 1984.
So why am I bringing this up now?
Why not? If you knew someone in harm’s way, wouldn’t you try to help? I’ve been quiet about this subject in my columns for way too long. I’ve never kept my faith in Jesus a secret, but neither have I openly sought to share the Good News with my readers. That ends today.
If you get nothing else out of this column this week I want you to get this: No matter what anyone else may tell you, Jesus is the only way to Heaven. He is our only link to God and eternity in paradise.
Being a good person, doing good deads and believing there is a God is not enough to keep you from burning in Hell for all time. The Bible makes things very clear. We are born sinners. Because of that we are condemned to eternal death – to the pits of Hell.
Unlike the Charlie Daniels song “the Devil Went Down to Georgia,” we do not choose between God and the devil. That choice is made for us. The only choice we have is to accept Jesus or to reject him. Jesus is the only way to God. We do not go to Heaven without him.
Fortunately, choosing Jesus is a good thing. God loves us. He cares for us and wants the very best for us. He loves us enough that he sent Jesus to die for our sins.
Because Jesus has paid the price for sin and has risen again, we have the option to accept him and accept his love and be welcomed to paradise eternal. We are given the Holy Spirit to dwell within us until that time when our bodies cease to function.
There is nothing greater on earth than that divine truth. Likewise, there is nothing more perilous and fatal than the rejection of Christ and the Spirit.
You have a choice to make. You can accept the gift of eternal life through Christ or you can reject it. Doing nothing is the same as rejection. It’s a decision you cannot afford to put off any longer. You cannot say you haven’t been warned. If you’ve read this far you know what I believe to be true and you know the ball is in your court.
Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss this further. There are also many ministers who could help you understand this better. None of them will turn you down in a sincere quest.
Neither will I. In the grand scheme of things, there is nothing more important to me and nothing more important in this world.