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Continuing our discussion from part one, it becomes evident then that the only way in which we can ever hope to arrive at the Strait Gate and the right Door, is by staying on the Narrow Way and the right path. But if we choose to become willful and decide to go our own way, we may end up not only getting lost, but we may eventually find ourselves arriving at the wrong door as well. At the very least, we may find ourselves arriving late, only to discover that the door has already been shut, as occurred with the five foolish virgins who had to go and acquire more oil for their lamps because they were ill-prepared, as we see by these verses:

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."


Thus, we must carefully follow the instructions which we find in God's approved "Drivers Manual" in order to make sure that we remain on the right highway. In addition to this, we need to watch out for the Devil's detours, bumps in the road, and any other obstacles he attempts to place before us. We must remain focused on our ultimate goal and destination, and keep both of our eyes looking straight in front of us. We must not become enticed by Satan's dangerous side roads, back roads and other distractions. In a word, we need to keep our eyes firmly set on Jesus, who is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. We must stay on the Highway of Life, and not end up on the Highway of Death. Following are a few more related verse for your inspiration:

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day . . . Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."


"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."


"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."


"LOOKING UNTO JESUS the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."


"I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name . . . Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."


"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:"


"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."


"And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."


"Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils."


"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."


To those of you who may identify with the opening paragraphs of this article, allow me to say this: Until you are willing to forsake the lies and the plastic, empty life which Satan has offered you on his silver platter of carnal comfort, sin and convenience, and willing to renew your fellowship with your Creator, or maybe to establish a relationship with Him for the very first time by accepting the Sacrifice of His dear Son -- Jesus -- as atonement for your sins, the nagging empty feeling which has plagued your life will remain. You will continue down the deceptive broad highway which leads to destruction, and away from the loving arms of your Heavenly Father. Similar to the foolish man in Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son who abandoned his father's house, and wasted all of his living on worldly things, you will end up eating just husks, husks, and more husks. Consider the story and learn:

"And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found."


As you can see from the previous verses, after suffering for some time, and eating husks every day, the Prodigal Son came to his senses. He realized what he had lost. He repented of his sins; and he returned to his father's house with a much more humble attitude. To his great surprise, he discovered that his father had been waiting for him to return all along. He was so overjoyed to see his son again that he even threw him a party. Such is the love of our Heavenly Father as well. He longingly waits for us to return to Him, or to come to Him for the very first time in humble submission to His Will.

So tell me; are you honest enough and humble enough to admit to both yourself and to the Lord that you have been deceived by the Devil's lies, and have been traveling down the wrong highway? Are you willing to admit that you need a real change in your life? Or do you prefer to remain a blind creature of habit who is in bondage to Satan, and who continues down the broad, sinful road which ultimately leads to damnation and destruction?

Please know that it is never too late to apply the brakes, to turn around, and to get back on the right road which leads to Eternal Life. As long as there is life, there is hope. You may not be able to make up for all of the time that you lost when you followed Satan's subtle detour, but at least you will have avoided the danger of being eternally lost. Furthermore, you will be able to begin laying up true treasures in Heaven, as you devote more of your life to service to the Lord.

It is important that you realize that now is your time; not tomorrow; not next week; not next month; and certainly not next year. You really don't need more time to think about it. A drowning man does not ponder whether or not he should reach out and grab the life preserver which has been thrown to him. If he waits too long so that he can ponder both the drawbacks and the benefits of his decision, he will surely be a dead man. In similar fashion, as we saw earlier with the Parable of the Ten Virgins, if you wait too long due to your own pride and stubbornness, the Doors of the Kingdom will be shut, and you too will be lost. Please consider the following verses:

"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."


"(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)"


"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."


"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"


"But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"


If you are not yet certain of your Salvation, please do not put it off another day. Procrastination is simply another one of Satan's tricks. If he can convince you to continue denying Jesus Christ until the day that you die, then in your particular case, he has won the battle. Don't be the Devil's fool! Accept Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Savior today. He is waiting with open loving arms, and is willing and able to forgive you for everything but your unbelief. Be warned that if you persist in your proud and stubborn ways, you will have condemned yourself; for as the Lord also informs us in the Gospel of John:

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."


In contrast, if you come to the Light of Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive you for your sins, there is no condemnation, as we see by the following verse:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."


Will you come to the Light? Or will you continue to run away from it and dwell in spiritual darkness? The choice is up to you. My hope and prayer is that you will be wise enough to make the right decision. In closing, there is an old song which says something like "You take the high road, and I'll take the low road, but I'll get to California before you." Well, in this case, there is really only one high road -- or Highway to Heaven -- and it passes through Jesus Christ. As we learned earlier, all other roads are certainly low roads, tricks of Satan, time-wasters and detours which lead to death and eternal destruction. As the Apostles Peter and John noted in the Book of Acts:

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."


To reiterate, please open your life and heart to Jesus today. You will be glad you did. Not only will you inherit Eternal Life as a result of your faith in Jesus Christ, but you will likewise discover that your life has a new sense of purpose and meaning. Furthermore, you will gain a new sense of fulfillment such as you have never known before, as you begin to serve others by sharing the Good News of Salvation with them as well.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Abundant Life Doctrine: Scripturally Exposed!
Are You Clean Every Whit?
Backsliding, Divine Chastisement and the Divine Agreement
Beholding the Evil and the Good
Have You Sold Your Soul for a Pound of Flesh?
Message to the World
Not Everyone is a Child of God
One From Beyond: Hebrew of Hebrews
Pilgrims and Strangers: Are You an Alien?
The Heavenly Vision: Have You Got It?

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Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.