16 March 2009

Looking for input

I am trying to understand the difference between Heaven and Hell. In the Bible it talks about hell being a place of great pain and a fire burning you. Hell is also a place where one lives with an absence of God. If a person is condemned to hell, wouldn't it be safe to say they lived their mortal live with an absence of God?

Satan, God and all the angels know the outcome. They know that Satan looses and God wins. Knowing this, why does Satan try so hard to keep people from God? It seems like Satan's only plan is to deprive God of as many souls as possible. If this is the case, why is hell such a bad place?

One question i was asked this weekend was "Do you live your life the way you do because you want to please God or because you're afraid of hell?" This got me to questioning myself. If i try to do the right thing, why am i doing it? Is it Love or Fear that motivates me? If it is Fear, then i am doing it for the wrong reason but it is a good start.

I think most of us don't comprehend what Heaven really is. Imagine that how you live your 80 or so years on Earth decide where you go when you die. I wonder how many people really believe that? I want to be happy here on earth but i want the reward of Heaven. Is that even possible? If it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get to Heaven, do we have a chance? We may not be Oprah rich but compared to the rest of the world, we are rich.

Do we put earthly happiness above the afterlife? Is it worth it? I mean, 80 years compared to eternity makes me stop and think. For Protestants it is easy. Simply believe and you get to Heaven. I think it's a lot more complicated than that. You have to believe and live that belief. I don't think too many people do that.

Either way, come the end we will find out. I hope that i get to prove myself correct because an eternity in hell does not sound very fun.

2 comments:

Mulligan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mulligan said...

Simply believe and you get to Heaven."

not true. Satan believes in God. Believing God exists and surrendering to his will aren't the same. I remember from my Sunday School class years ago.

I'm told that's where the happiness comes from ... the surrender.

I'd better stop now... I've not seen much happiness so far and the future looks dim. I find that my frustration level and my happiness are inversely proportional.