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“But they wouldn’t let me.”

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Beyond Heaven's Door (p. 9). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Max had an opportunity to go to the Masters Golf Tournament.  If you love golf you understand the excitement he had.  It was a great opportunity.  And he wanted to experience it all.

He said, “I was a kid in a candy store. And like a kid, I couldn’t get enough. It wasn’t enough to see the course and walk the grounds; I wanted to see the locker room. That’s where the clubs of Hogan and Azinger are displayed. That’s where the players hang out. And that’s where I wanted to be.”

But he said, “A guard stopped me at the entrance. I showed him my pass, but he shook his head. I told him I knew Scott, but that didn’t matter. I promised to send his eldest child through college, but he didn’t budge. ‘Only caddies and players,’ he explained. Well, he knew I wasn’t a player or a caddie. Caddies at the Masters are required to wear white coveralls. My clothing was a dead giveaway. So I left, figuring I’d never see the clubhouse. I had made it all the way to the door but was denied entrance.”

Max goes on, “Many people fear the same will happen to them in heaven. They fear being turned away at the door. A legitimate fear, don’t you think? We’re talking about a pivotal moment. To be turned away from seeing golf history is one thing, but to be refused admission into heaven is quite another.

“That is why some people don’t want to discuss heaven. It makes them nervous. They may be God-fearing and church-attending people but still nervous. Is there a solution for this fear? Need you spend the rest of your life wondering if you will be turned away at the door?”

He then says, “According to the Bible, it is possible to ‘know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13 MSG). How? How can any of us know for sure? Curiously, it all has to do with the clothing we wear.

I think it is a good subject to explore.  Don’t you?

Yes, yes!
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