This morning I have been reminded of a someone that took time out of their week for total strangers – unfortunately they met me…
Northbridge, Western Australia sometime in the 1990’s, likely a weekend around 9pm at the beginning of a night out.
Standing there, old, fairly frail (at least in my eyes), on the pavement with his back towards the wall of a building. I’m not sure if I saw it or if someone alerted me to it – but there is was:
A Ticket to Heaven – how DARE he! 
A piece of paper that although I didn’t know what it said, I knew what it stood for and I HATED IT.
My reaction surprised me: Anger. So much anger that I stopped and yelled and swore at this poor old guy. So bad I seem to recall feeling bad for him and noticing my friends leaving, likely embarrassed by my rudeness.
I remember struggling to control the anger in that moment – and that was huge for me. I prided myself on being able to bottle up any emotion or reaction, until I could get revenge later. I learnt as a child I needed to suppress emotions or suffer the consequences. And I was good at it.
But here I was being distracted from a good night out by this building rage.
It was one of only two or three times that I remember this happening. The first was the most surprising and most ‘dangerous’ of all:
I was driving my Torana at around twice the speed limit somewhere in the Northern suburbs of Perth. The police pulled me up. As I pulled to the side of the road, anger hit me, before I had even stopped moving…
I was *livid* – fully enraged. How dare they pull me up! I jumped out of the car and ran towards theirs, yelling and screaming at them. I have no idea what I said, but I look back at that interaction 25 years later with amazement…
The Police should be beating me
How was I not arrested – or beaten? I definitely deserved it. I remember clearly thinking that in the moment “they should be beating me”. Instead one of them said these words:
“You have a real problem with authority…you need to deal with it or you are going to get into big trouble”
I had no idea what it meant – but I knew it wasn’t the correct reaction to what I had just done. They got in their car and drove off. No fine, no beating, not arrested, no yellow sticker: definitely not how the next hundred or so interactions would go…
So this morning, 25-30 years later, I remember these two different situations and the people. Things could have easily been so different.
They were justified in having a reaction of anger or violence – I myself in the moment thought I deserved it! But they didn’t. And it stuck in my brain.
Despite the drugs & alcohol, despite the relationships & ‘wild’ lifestyle, despite the adrenalin & hatred towards *everything* the police and church people stood for, these two events were seared into my mind.
Not enough to snap me out of the downward trajectory of my life – it took something far more powerful to do that:
Being stopped in my tracks, in the middle of a trip to end my life, by the true nature of my actions…
Here I was thinking I was a good person, helping people by selling them drugs, ripping others off, breaking the law, living with multiple partners, with absolutely no regard for ‘god’. But now, suddenly faced with the fact that not only did God exist: He was going to hold me directly accountable for each and every action against Him.
Lying, Stealing, Lust, Envy, Greed: they were ingrained into my life daily. I had no regard for God at all, let alone putting Him first in my life and worshipping Him, like He was due.
I was about to jump off a cliff into a very literal hell that I didn’t believe in. And now, suddenly, I knew it to be true. It hit me like a truck and my heart was pierced for the first time. The Bible calls it conviction: the first work of God’s Holy Spirit – and wow was it powerful! I was going to stand in front of the Creator of the Universe, stained in all kinds of sin, with no excuse what so ever.
What about you? You may not have lived a life of crime, but have you put God first? Have you honoured Him with your body, your time, your words? Have you lived life the way He intended you to? You are reading this because He wants you to know: you have not gotten away with it.
One day, Judgement Day, the books will be opened. The wrath, anger and punishment of God will hit every deserving soul. There is no excuse or escape or justification. No amount of your ‘good’ deeds will outweigh even the ‘smallest’ sins.
The result is Eternity separated from Him, torment, yes: hell.
Thankfully, this God doesn’t want this to happen and loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die and pay for *all* your sins. Every. Single. One.
I was faced with the same decision as you right now. Will I hold on to my (enjoyable, addictive) sins, my sinful lifestyle, my life? Or will I turn from it, giving all my sins to Jesus to have them annulled? To willingly give ‘my’ life, whatever is left of it, to Him.
For me, everything changed. I decided no more drugs / alcohol / sex before marriage / stealing etc – I would live for Him, not that I had any idea what that meant.
I had my ‘ticket’ to Heaven. But not just a piece of paper, He was a real, living, loving God who walked with me, talked with me, changed me, and continues to do so. Daily.
Do you have your ticket? Don’t be fooled: you need One. Not religion – that will just trap you. Not yourself or your deeds. You need Jesus, no matter what you believe. And if you ‘have’ Him: live for Him – it’s the least you can do!
You need Jesus, no matter what you believe. And if you ‘have’ Him: live for Him!
Lord, help us to serve You with enthusiasm and conviction. May Your love and truth guide, strengthen and encourage us so that we share You with the world. May we treat you as more than ‘just’ a ticket to a nice place.