Psalm 86:11-13; “Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. I give thanks to You, O Lord My God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your steadfast love toward me; You have delivered my soul from the depth of Sheol.” (According to Miriam-Webster, Sheol is the abode of the dead in early Hebrew thought.) (ESV, all emphasis mine)
Psalm 25:1-5; “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O My God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you will be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. (4) Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. (5) Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my Salvation; for I wait all the day long.”
Proverbs 3:5-6; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
Isaiah 41:10; “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold you with My righteous right hand.”
John 10:27-30; “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are One.”
John 15:5; “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing.”
So far, we have covered only a few of the verses given in all of God’s word about being able to trust in Him and to put all our hope and faith in Jesus. There are literally hundreds of such verses from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21. Knowing this information is readily available, one would wonder why in Matthew 7:13-14 that Jesus would say more would reject Him than would receive and accept Him.
Let’s look at the other side of the coin with some verses about the opposition.
1 John 3:8; “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
2 Corinthians 11:3; “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
The last verse takes into account Genesis 3:1-5; “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden’? The woman said to the serpent, ‘we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden; and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.'”
1 Peter 5:8; “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.”
Our Heavenly Father hates destructive self-pride, and there are verses that give us His reasoning.
Isaiah 14:12-14; “How you have fallen from Heaven, O daystar, son of dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low. You said in your heart, I will ascend to Heaven, above the stars of God; I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
Ezekiel 28:17; “Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings to feast their eyes on you.”
Satan was possibly the most beautiful angel created by God. It is obvious that there is free will among the angels as there is among us humans. We have the ability to make decisions for ourselves as long as we are aware there can be consequences. If we have received and accepted the gift of eternal life that has been provided to us by Jesus, we can and will make mistakes and sin (Romans 3:23), but we have a pathway to forgiveness (1 John 1:8-10). The unforgivable sin for humans is to take our last breath on this earth without having Jesus as our Savior.
It is also apparent that angels who chose Lucifer over God have no pathway to forgiveness. Just think, they were in the presence of the Lord God Jehovah and witnessed all His glory, splendor and love. However, those who foolishly chose Satan are doomed to a forever in the “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”(Matthew 25:41).
Likewise, all humans who were out of the will of God pre-Calvary, and all who have and will reject His Son’s sacrifice, will spend eternity in that Lake of Fire. Appropriate verses are Revelation 19:20 (antichrist and false prophet); Revelation 20:10 (Satan himself); and Revelation 20:11-15 (all the unsaved). All who end up at the Great White Throne Judgment will have chosen to be there, as they chose the lies, temptations and love of this world over the offer of eternal paradise with our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
A beautiful song written by Adelaide A. Pollard (1862 – 1934) and released in 1906 is a plea for our Lord to be in our lives, lead us, heal us, and have Him living within us. It is called “Have Thine Own Way.”
1.) Have Thine own way, Lord; have Thine own way. Thou art the potter; I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still.
2.) Have Thine own way, Lord; have Thine own way. Search me and try me, Master, today. Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now. As in Thy presence, humbly I bow.
3.) Have Thine own way, Lord; have Thine own way. Wounded and weary, help me, I pray. Power, all power, surely is Thine. Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.
4.) Have Thine own way, Lord; have Thine own way. Hold o’re my being, absolute sway. Fill with Thy Spirit, till all shall see; Christ only, always living in me.
The hardest part of being a part of the Savior’s flock is to go against the grain of the beliefs of this world. Sadly, more want the “here and now” rather than consider their eternity. Even though God doesn’t want us to fail (2 Peter 3:9), He will allow us to choose which path we will follow.
The best description of the pathway to eternal life is Romans 10:9-13. We admit we’re all sinners, and we need a Savior to forgive us. Believe Jesus is the only way to Salvation, and if we call on Him, He will forgive us and prepare a place with Him (John 14:1-3).
Our eternal soul should be the most important and valuable part of us, and the path we choose will be the most important decision we will ever make. As Joshua said in 24:15 (paraphrased), “choose who you will serve, but for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Today, right now, would not be too soon to decide. This age is rapidly coming to a close, and we pray you won’t be left behind. It’s a gift for the asking. You can’t buy or earn it, as Jesus paid the price in full. Call on Him; He’s waiting for you.
Maranatha