Supposing I were to ask you to list the types of people who will end up in Hell, I am quite sure that amongst the first ones mentioned would be liars, thieves, murderers, idolaters, adulterers, or some very similar terminology in some fairly similar order. (Btw, how often do you stop to consider Hell anyway?) Actually, there is a list in Revelation 21:8 of the various epithets of the people who will be cast into the lake of fire, and topping this list are “the fearful, and unbelieving … ”
Supposing I were to ask you “What has Jesus done to save you?” many of you would probably say “He died to save me” or “He paid the penalty for my sins” or words to that effect. In a sense, that is true, but the Bible actually says that Jesus’ death “reconciled us to God” and “much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10) His death made it possible for any of us to be saved, but the ‘much more’ of our salvation is His life – living in us!
Supposing I were to ask you “What is the reason for the hope you have?” (1 Peter 3:15) Are you ready, as the scripture says, to give me an answer, and to do so with meekness and fear, or gentleness and reverence as some versions have it? (Note the distinction between the holy reverential fear mentioned here, and the cowardly, scared ‘fearful’ in the passage from Revelation quoted in the first paragraph.) Well are you ready? Really ready? It is not always as easy as it sounds, to give the reason for the hope you have, and to do it with gentleness too!
This is my concern with the list in the first paragraph above. I may no longer be a liar, a thief, or by the grace of God any of the other things on that list, but there are times when I may be somewhat fearful, and it is all too easy at times to ‘unbelieve’. Exactly who these people in that list are, and exactly what they are fearful of and unbelieving about is not made clear, but I don’t want to take any chances. With Jesus living in me, and my life hid with Him, I have no need to fear anything. And as regards belief and unbelieving, then I’m going to believe. What am I going to believe? God’s Word. Nothing less will do, and anything contrary or opposed to that Word has to be false, a lie or deception. I am convinced that only when I truly and fully believe, only then will I be ready, really ready, to give an account, a reason for the hope I have, and be able to do it with meekness and fear.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32

 The following was sent to me some time ago, it seemed worth repeating!

“The older I get the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

 
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business himself. He was talking about “a thousand marbles” to someone named Tom. I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say.
“Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital.” He continued, “Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities“. And that is when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles”.
“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I’m getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over 2800 Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75, I only had about 1000 of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones…..It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!”
You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show’s moderator didn’t have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.” “What brought this on?” she asked with a smile. “Oh, nothing special,” I said. “It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”
Have a great week and may all your Saturday’s be special!

I guess there is a fair chance that if you are reading this, then like me, you are over fifty years old. How old? Over half a century! Hard to believe isn’t it? I can remember, as though it was only yesterday, thinking “Well – I’ll soon be twenty”, then it was “I’ll soon be thirty”, then it was forty, and it seems to be only when you get to fifty that you look back and think “How did I get here so quickly?”
Last week I had a rare opportunity to visit the last surviving members of the previous generation in my family – an Aunt and Uncle who are both now in their nineties. I tell you – although it was lovely to see them both – and they are both remarkably healthy, getting older doesn’t give you much to look forward to. Hearing, eyesight, memory, ability, agility, mobility, strength, and many other things too (things that perhaps only at fifty do you begin to realise that you shouldn’t take for granted!) are all failing.
My Aunt did say that continuing to live is better than the alternative, and we didn’t pursue that line any further at the time, but is it? The thought of dying, and in particular of how death may occur is not pleasant, but what happens after death?
Have you ever given that any serious thought? As one who drives over 60,000 miles every year at work, many times I come around a corner and pass a pile of flowers, a shrine at the roadside, and I can’t help but think that if whoever it was had known what lay around the bend, they would never have gone round it. I wouldn’t have. Would you?
I know someone who knew what lay ahead down a certain path, yet He still went down that road, and He died an agonizing death. Do you know Him? He went that way so that you don’t have to.