My girls are so excited about our upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. As a matter of fact, since the day they found out about the trip they have not stopped talking about it and asking questions. The latest conversation about the trip was quite interesting. Olivia says, “Mommy, we are going to be able to see the White House, but we are not going inside because the doors are really heavy!” “The doors are really heavy? What do you mean?” I looked at my husband hoping to gain some insight but he was too busy laughing. Olivia goes on to further explain saying, “Daddy said it’s hard to get into for a tour.”
Too funny! That poor baby thought the building was literally physically hard to get into. She had no idea he was referring to all the logistics involved with scheduling and security.
Many people think of entering heaven the way my 5-year-old thinks of entering the White House. We have to do this and not do that. We must give up this and embrace that. Don’t you dare go there or be caught enjoying that. It is popular to think of heaven as the place where “the good people go” and if we are not “good” we are not going because “the doors are really heavy.”
Contrary to popular belief, the Bible explains that the people who go to heaven have this one thing in common: they are all sinners who have chosen to place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The people who go to heaven are not there because they were “good.” They are there because they recognized their need for a Savior, humbly accepted God’s gift of forgiveness, repented of their old ways of living, and set their course to follow Christ.
Faith in Jesus is the one means of going to heaven. Those who have faith are guaranteed to get there.
Do you trust in Jesus?
That’s the question to ask. Not “are you good enough or strong enough to open the doors?”
As far as heaven is concerned, please know there are no really heavy doors to pry open. Just a conversation that needs to be had with the right person, Christ, on the right day, today.
I love this message. The innocence of children is so precious. Heavy doors can make for a hard entrance. We are blessed to know Him and that we have a door open for us.