Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
God has strewn the freeway to hell with all kinds of obstacles. One wise author put it this way: "All along the road that leads to death there are pains and penalties, there are sorrows and disappointments, there are warnings not to go on. God's love has made it hard for the heedless and headstrong to destroy themselves."
More than this, by the Holy Spirit the Savior is sitting beside each of us as we travel down that freeway in the wrong direction, constantly nudging us to get into the right lane and take that blessed exit ramp to life eternal. His job is specifically to be a parakletos, "one called to the side of" us, and constantly "convict" us of "sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8). He will never tire of His job or leave us to our perverse ways unless we beat Him off persistently and determinedly. He cannot deny us freedom of choice.
And what about realigning that road to heaven in order to meet His competition? The Lord Himself assures us that His way is "easy," while the road to hell is hard (see Matt. 11:30; Acts 26:14). The Savior invites us to yoke up with Him (Matt. 11:29) on the way, and it is He who bears the weight and does the pulling. That more than compensates for any supposed uphill difficulties! The "strait" gate and "narrow" way (7:14) does not mean a hard way. There is just not room for the sins that would destroy us.
The old song says something true:
"I saw the Holy City beside the tideless sea.
The light of God was on its streets,
its gates were opened wide,
And all who would might enter,
and no one was denied."
In other words, immortality is yours for the asking. God gives it to everyone. All we have to do is say Yes--to accept the gift of salvation.
But remember, the Lord will not force Himself on anyone who doesn't like Him and doesn't want Him around; He is too much a gentleman to do so. If He forced everyone to be saved many would be miserable in an environment where the prevailing spirit is heartfelt gratitude to the Lamb for His sacrifice in redeeming the world. If by accident one rebel found himself there he would head for the nearest exit. The lost are not shut out of heaven by God, but by their own unfitness for its companionship. God's love is forced to let them have what they want.
God's love for every individual is more intense than that of a devoted mother for each of her children. She does not divide her love between them; each gets the whole of it. And if one is lost she grieves. John the Revelator says that when the Lamb had "opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven" (Rev. 8:1), which can mean the silence of God's infinite personal grief for those who have insisted on choosing the way of self-destruction.
--Robert J. Wieland
From: These Times, 1983.
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