The Bag Of Beans

Good News – September 2024 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Now I’m Sure! How About You?

My Fear
I was scared. I was lying on my bunk at camp, thinking about going to heaven. I could hear a train coming down the nearby tracks. It was getting closer and louder. I was afraid, and I wanted to cry.

We had just come from a gospel meeting where a man had told us how we could get ready for heaven. I didn’t understand everything he said. I wasn’t sure I was going there.

I was thinking of my mom and dad, far away at home. They knew they were going to heaven. They had often talked to me about it, but I just wasn’t sure. I wanted to be close to them right now.

Some Questions
Then I heard my counselor, Timber, call my name, “Meekie?”

“Yes, Timber,” I answered trembling.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I said with an unsure voice.

“Are you sure?” she questioned.

“No,” I sobbed through my tears.

The next thing I knew she was sitting on the edge of my bunk. “What’s the matter? Why are you crying?”

I hesitated. “I’m afraid of the train.”

It didn’t take long for the train to pass and then everything was quiet in the cabin again.

Timber sat quietly with me for a long while, until finally I whispered. “How can I know for sure that I’ll go to heaven? Tonight we heard about sins. I’ve asked Jesus to wash my sins away, but I know I still sin.”

I don’t think she was surprised by my question. She knew something else had been bothering me, something more than a noisy train passing by.

God’s Answer
“Well, Meekie,” she said, “Do you love the Lord Jesus?”

“Oh, yes.” I replied, “I love Him very much.”

“Can you tell me what John 3:16 says?” Timber asked.

I recited: “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” (NKJV).

“That’s right.” She added, “Jesus also said, ‘I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand’ (10:28). Once you have told Him you are sorry for your sin, He gives you eternal life. Then you can be sure that you will go to heaven.”

A Question For You
Now I’m sure I’m going to heaven. Are you, or are you afraid like I was? He wants you to tell Him you are a sinner, that you love Him, and that you want Him to come into your heart and take away your sins. He wants you to thank Him for dying for you, for taking the punishment you deserved.

Won’t you do this today? We can tell you how.

By Meekie