At first I thought my friend was joking. But he was dead serious: “With the right technology, do you think we could get to heaven?”

I guess I was pleased my friend wanted to get to heaven. But his ‘do it yourself’ idea wasn’t ever going to get him where he wanted to go.

Paul must have thought something similar about the people in Ephesus. In his letter to them, he went to great lengths to make sure they understood that it was God who raised us up with Jesus and “seated us with him in the heavenly realms” (EPH. 2:6).

He really wanted them to understand that their entry to heaven was only going to happen by the work of Jesus. Paul even said that trusting in Jesus was a gift from God (V.8). In short, Jesus did the work of getting them to heaven, not the other way round.

It’s easy to get this mixed up sometimes. We forget that the gift of believing in Jesus’ sacrifice is all we need to enjoy being with God forever.

By: Kirsten Holmberg

To Pray About . . .

Father, I know I’ve sometimes tried to earn my way into heaven. Thank You so much for the gift of Jesus who gave Himself up for me on the cross. Thank You that because of Him, I can have a relationship with You.