One Door

             A new grocery store recently opened in my neighborhood.  I’ve been told that it’s the largest of its kind in the United States.  I can’t confirm that, but I do know that you can easily get your steps in if you try walking up and down every aisle in the store.

          This morning, as I was checking out, a lady who had checked out before me stopped in the aisle, looking both left and right, obviously confused.  Finally, she said to the cashier, “Where is the door?”  At first, that sounds like a stupid question, but because this store is laid out differently than most, it wasn’t stupid at all.  Most stores of this kind have two doors.  One leads to one side of the store, and the other is at the exact opposite side of the store.  This new grocery store has two doors, but they both lead to the same area of the store, effectively creating one door.  Thus, the cashier’s response to the lady’s question was, “It’s that way,” pointing in the direction of the door, and then adding, “There’s only one door.” Confusing though that might be, it was accurate.  There is only one way in and out of that store

          As I thought about that this afternoon, I thought, “That’s just like heaven.”  With all the religions in the world today, we get overwhelmed with all the different ideas of how we might get to heaven. Some people believe they can reach heaven by being good.  The only problem is that no one is good.  The Scripture tells us clearly that “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NIV84).

 Some religions think that they must make great sacrifices to appease their gods.  However, Christianity is the only religion where God sacrificed Himself for His people.  Others believe that they will be reincarnated as a different person, based on how they lived their life. 

Unfortunately for all these misguided souls, they are all wrong. The truth is that there is only one door to eternal life, and that door is Christ!  Jesus said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9a NIV84).  Later, He also said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV84).  Jesus is preparing a place for His people, and He welcomes all who believe. 

Like the grocery store that only has one door, heaven only has one door.  Jesus is that door, and He anxiously waits to invite each of us to walk through.  All He asks is that we believe that He is the Son of God and our Savior.  It doesn’t get much easier than that.

John 3:16

John 10:9

John 14:6

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