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| Volume 22 Number 1 January 2020 | Page 4 |
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| Volume 22 Number 1 January 2020 | Page 4 |
Ron Boatwright
Christ, who is all knowing, told us that many people are going to be lost in eternity. In Matthew 7:13-14 He said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (NKJV). According to the Bible, the majority of people will be lost. We must take this warning seriously. The Lord said that only a few people will be saved.
How few can be saved? In 1 Peter 3:20 we read, “…when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (KJV). The conservative estimate of the number of people on the face of the earth in the days of Noah is two hundred million (200,000,000). Yet, only eight (8) of the estimated 200,000,000 were saved. This is not very good odds. Even though the Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 that the Lord is “not willing that any should perish,” Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 concerning eternal life in Heaven that “there are few who find it” (NKJV). The vast majority of people will spend forever and ever in the eternal fires of Hell that will never be extinguished. Mankind cannot comprehend how horrible that Hell is going to be.
There are only two roads to eternity, and everyone is on one or the other. If we miss Heaven, we will be thrown into the eternal fires of Hell forever. One of the saddest things about being thrown into Hell is the fact that it could have been avoided. The majority of people will be lost in spite of what the Lord has done. Hell is not what God does to us, but Hell is what one does to himself. A person who ends up in Hell is his own worst enemy, and he only has himself to blame. Let us make going to Heaven our number one priority in life.
The Optimist's Creed
Ronald D. Reeves
Several years ago, I read and appreciated The Optimist Creed, penned by an unidentified author. As the year passes on and the new one arrives, perhaps the author’s thoughts are worthy of our adoption.
Promise yourself…to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind; to talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet; to make all your friends feel that there is something in them; to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true; to think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best; to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own; to forget the mistakes of the past and to press on to the greater achievements of the future; to wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile; to give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others; to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Though filled with lofty ideals, The Optimist Creed should genuinely motivate us to think anew about our spirit, direction and priorities in life. May these thoughts bless us all as the years pass by.