Nathan Brewer
No one can make you go to heaven. You will not be dragged into heaven against your will, kicking and screaming. No matter how hard people try to get you to go, God will not let it happen if you do not want to.
Many of you would rather sleep an extra hour or two on Sunday morning than worship God. You are an adult. No one can make you acknowledge God’s existence against your will. So, if you would rather not get involved in spiritual matters—if you would rather not worship your Creator—God will not make you. If you would rather ignore the sacrifice that Jesus made for you when He died for your sins, you can. No one is stopping you.
If you are one of those who likes to drink alcohol, or have sexual relations outside of marriage, God is not going to force you to stop. He will let you behave the way you want to while you are alive on earth. Maybe you had to live by your parents’ strict rules when you were younger, but not now. No one can make you stop living a sinful life.
That is the thing about serving God—it is completely up to us. It is a choice we are allowed to make. We do not have to do it. God does not force anyone to serve Him. In fact, God does not force anyone to do anything. He gave humans free will. He allows us to choose what to do with our lives. So, if you like cussing, God will let you do it. If you like telling dirty jokes and ripping out vulgar words, God will not stop you from doing it, even though He hates filthy speech.
Your mother may have tried to teach you the Bible when you were young, but you do not have to listen to her any more. Maybe a preacher has talked to you about your soul, but now that you are grown, you can ignore him. Besides, you probably think it is none of his business what you do with your life. Maybe your spouse has begged you to attend Bible study and worship, or to give up sinful activities. But, hey, you are your own person now. No one can tell you what to do.
Now, I know what you might be thinking. You think, “Well, maybe I do some of those things, but I’ll make it to heaven.” First of all, if you do not want to worship God, if you do not care much for Bible study, and if you like dabbling in sin, why would you want to go to heaven? Heaven is a spiritual place with spiritual activities. Those who go to heaven will spend time praising God, and that sounds a lot like worship. There certainly will not be any alcohol, womanizing, or carousing in heaven. No filthy language will be allowed. That does not sound like your kind of place.
Second, you cannot have your cake and eat it too. God lets you choose the way you want to live in this life, and He lets you choose to spend eternity in hell. How you live while you are on earth determines your soul’s destiny. God demands total devotion to Him in this life if we want to spend the next life with Him. In Luke 9:23, Jesus says anyone who follows Him must deny himself every day. That means we have to suppress fleshly desires that keep us from doing what He says. It means we have to follow Him completely—not when it is convenient, or when we feel like it. It means we cannot pick and choose which parts of His Word to obey. It means total devotion.
In Luke 9:24, Jesus sums it up. He says that if we follow our own desires, we will lose our soul; but if we live completely for Him in this life, we will gain eternal life. The choice is up to you. The way of salvation has been revealed. Now we have to decide whether we will live for Him in this life, or if we will live for ourselves. No one can make you serve God, and no one can make you go to heaven. However, on Judgment Day, will those who tried to get you to live right enter into eternal rest and joy while you descend into everlasting torment and sorrow? Do not let that happen. Choose to serve God now.
