By

Nancy Arant William

Do you enjoy movies with happy endings? Well, so do I.

In fact, there’s nothing like a well-written srcipt, excellent acting and a satisfying ending to a movie.

But it’s just occurred to me that in our culture, both Christians and unbelievers alike use movies and entertainment like a tranquilizer, a distraction from the real world that’s become all too painful.

When the news is bad, we can simply turn it off and turn on a movie, with a controlled and predictable happy ending, stuff our faces with popcorn or chocolate and completely forget the news.

In fact, if you get right down to it, Americans have cornered the market on distraction. We have nearly unlimited access to travel, music, food, computers, video games, movies, medication and money to kill the pain of reality. When life gets too hard, we just click off and let our minds take us elsewhere.

But here’s what God has shown me. Life is not a movie, and it doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending. In fact, for most of humankind, it will have a tragic end.

I believe God is giving us a reality check here, one more chance to get it right, to see that The End is coming soon, when there won’t be retakes or escape mechanisms to dull the pain of the consequences of sin.

Scripture says today is the day of salvation, that tomorrow will be too late. Jesus is the only way to heaven. Not Buddha, not some Eastern religion, and not some man-made state of nirvana.

Jesus is the only way. scripture says in John 14: 6: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.”

Our culture has even attempted to alter the meaning of scripture. Our grandparents used to believe that Jesus was the way and that heaven was the reward for those who diligently sought God through Christ. But not anymore. Sadly, America has come full circle, totally deluded into believing riches are the goal, that we are gods, and that there will be no day of reckoning.

We deaden our sense of horror, knowing in our hearts that the day will soon come. Even unbelievers now toss and turn at night, sleepless with dread of their end. And rightly so, if we have not submitted our hearts to Jesus Christ, confessing our sins and making Jesus Lord over our lives.

Life is not a movie, dear friends. It’s a temporary situation, whose end has not yet been written. But it’s up to you. What will you do with Jesus while there is still time?

Will you tune out the truth or let it penetrate your consciousness by the power of the Holy Spirit? Will you stop the DVD, put down the remote and seek the truth with your whole heart?

It’s all there in God’s Word for those who want to know. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

But in order to get the happy ending, we must allow God to be the director of this show called life, and if we don’t, the awful ending will not be His fault, but ours.

We have a choice. Hell is a reality, beloved. Not some storybook fiction someone made up to scare us. scripture says hell is everlasting fire, eternal torment, and worst of all, separation from the love of Jesus and everything beautiful.

And contrary to popular opinion, there is no swaggering, rebellious crowd having a great time in hell. Everyone there is suffering, src
eaming for relief, yearning for another chance. But there is no second chance; this is all there is.

Can you see the urgency to get it right? To find out Who God really is and what He has planned?

The truth is, He’s everything you and I yearn for. He is. He’s our Peace, our Comforter, our Provider, our Hiding Place, our Victory, our Wise Counselor and the Tender Shepherd who leads his lambs to green pastures.

Jesus is offering one last chance to those who will stop daydreaming and start seeking Him for who He is. For those who will say, “Forgive me, Lord, for remaking You in my image, instead of taking hold of Who You really are.”

For you and I to get to heaven, we must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the perfect Son of  God, sent to die in our place, to redeem us from the clutches of sin and death and hell. We must set aside our own agendas and ask God, “What must I do to be saved?”

If we are seeking Him with our whole heart, with no agenda of our own, God will reveal Himself in amazing and supernatural ways that will outshine any movie ever made.

I challenge us to get real with God before it’s too late.

If you want to know How to become a child of God, please click here. Jesus is waiting and time is short. What will you do with the time you have left?