Reasons to Miss Heaven

What was the first thing you thought of when you read the title to this article? For 100% of our readers I am sure you thought, “There is no good reason to miss Heaven.” And you would be right. But I am not thinking about good reasons to miss Heaven. There are none. But there are reasons that, sadly, many will indeed miss Heaven.

Before we get into these reasons we must consider the cause of missing Heaven. The cause is different from the reasons. The cause people do not go to Heaven is sin. The paycheck for sin is death (Romans 6:23). James tells us (1:13-15) that sin is the result of a desire that is not checked. The result of that process, unless it is interrupted by grace and gospel obedience, is spiritual death. We have to be careful to remember that the thing that separates us from God is our own sin (Isaiah 59:1-2). If I am lost it is because of my own sin.

As a related matter, some will miss Heaven because they do not wish to accept responsibility for their own sin. They give as a reason for their sin that God made them the way they are and they just cannot help thinking, saying or doing the things they do. As James tells is we had better not think that we can blame God for our sin.

Some folks will miss Heaven because they have not taken the time nor expended the energy to investigate the reality of creation. God has placed before our eyes tremendous evidence to look beyond this creation to the cause of it. It is a sad waste to look at the beautiful sky or a raging sea and not wonder about the source of such wonderful marvels. The same is true for the flower that blooms, the baby that cries, the stars in the night and the course of the electron.

Some folks will miss Heaven because they don’t take a moment and think about the source of the intricacies of this world. This is tragic because if we will take that moment and think like that we will be led to the idea of God.
Some folks will miss Heaven because they did not take the next step. If we think about the idea of God we will sooner or later come to the Bible. The Bible is specific about God. It is the Book that tells us what we need to know about Him. Many people will hear the devil’s students say that the Bible is a good book but not The Good Book. They will buy into the secular myth that the Bible is a collection of religious myths. Their reason for missing Heaven will be that they decided the wisdom of the world is correct and the wisdom of God is wrong. Man is foolish when he elevates his paltry view of the world over the revelation of God (Psalm 14:1, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25).

Some folks will miss Heaven because they confuse the role of Christians with that of God. There are people who expect Christians to be perfect and always on their best behavior. When such a person sees a Christian act in a harsh or selfish manner they use that faulty behavior as a reason to reject the Lord and thus miss Heaven. God is the only perfect Being that never sins or makes any kind of mistake. Christians make all kinds of mistakes. We sin (Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:5-10). We don’t want to but sometimes we do. It is a sad thing when someone uses the shortcomings of others, which shortcoming they also have, as a reason to miss Heaven.

Some folks will miss Heaven because they give up. These people want to say that it is just too hard. It is not too hard because God said He would make a way for us even when we are being tested (1 Corinthians 10:13). Yes, we are to be steadfast and unmovable (1 Corinthians 15:58). Yes, we are to be faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10). Yes, we are to fight a good fight, finish our course and keep the faith (2 Timothy 4:6-8). And No, it is not too hard. It is not always easy, but it is never too hard. There is no good reason to miss Heaven.

Bill Irby

via Hobbs Street Herald