For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. -John 3:16

This is one of the most well-known verses of the Bible, and it definitely deserves our attention. The everlasting life that it speaks of is not only a wonderful quality of life here on earth, but also a promise of life with God forever in a beautiful place called heaven.

There is only one other option for people when their bodies wear out and their lives on earth end. This option is far from beautiful. In fact, hell is described in the Bible as a place of eternal punishment and separation from God. Revelation 20:5 calls it a lake of fire – and Matthew 25:41 refers to it as a place of eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. It is a horrible place!

But sadly, many people are trusting in their good works to get them into heaven. They wrongly believe that God is someday going to weigh all the things they did in their lives on some sort of eternal scale. They think He is going to put all the good things they have done on one side and all the bad things on the other side. If the good they have done outweighs the bad, then they will make it into heaven. But if someone has done more bad than good, they are doomed to an eternity in hell. This couldn’t be farther from the truth!

Faith in God’s gift of His Son, Jesus, is the only way to heaven. Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” None of us could be perfect enough to work our way into heaven. The only way to get there is by receiving God’s gift by faith.

God does not send anyone to hell. He gives us the choice and we do the choosing. If you haven’t already, choose to put your faith in Jesus today and secure your place in heaven.