The final face of God’s love to be discussed in this series concerns His “Love Letter” to mankind–His Holy Bible. God so loved the world that He gave us His path to eternal life in written form. This Biblical “Way of the Walk” reveals to the earnest seeker the what, why, who, when and how of the Lord’s call to mankind. Just as a caring parent makes clear and plain how his child is to travel in order to arrive at the right destination, the Lord has made available a perfect spiritual map that, if followed exactly, will lead God-seekers to His eternal kingdom where they will reside with Him forever. Anyone explaining to a child how to read a map will include the consequences for failing to stay on the designated route. So does God. He tells us time and again that if we do not stay on course we will end up in the wrong place, even if we had believed all the time that we were on the right course. This mistake is made when we do not frequently refer to the map. When this happens there is always someone who will put us on the “right way.” This is one of Satan’s favorite tricks which goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. The great deceiver had a better way for Adam and Eve to attain eternal life, one which was not so strict and allowed them to use their own mental faculties. In short, his way was for them to do what they wanted to do. He convinced them that God’s love was so strong toward them that could take another, albeit condemned, course and still remain in paradise forever. That same Satan has convinced billions of paradise seekers that they can take any path (belong to any church) they want as long as they give credit to the Lord for their choice and quote an occasional Bible verse.

Satan’s modern day trick is to get people to join an organization within his Catholic/Protestant church system rather than go the Biblical way. The destination, he assures his victims, is the same. After having an “alter call,” a world famous evangelist would end his services with an admonition to those who had “walked the aisle” to “join the church of your choice.” In other words, find a religious organization that, as one person said, “does what I like to do.”

The Lord’s “Love Letter” to man contains instructions on how to join Him in His kingdom. The problem is that there are strict rules that govern the trip. For this reason the vast majority of travelers leave His way and become involved in one of Satan’s many, traveler-friendly ways. I recently heard a religious researcher say that there were between 200 and 1000 Protestant churches, depending on one’s definition of a church. Why so many versions of the same thing? Like Adam and Eve, modern man, wants eternal life, but wants it on his own terms, which he can follow or not follow at will. God only has one set of terms, and they must be adhered to perfectly. Man rejects His terms and insists that his own terms are superior. For this reason God foretold that very few people would enter paradise (Mat. 7:13,14). For the masses of religious people, God’s way to paradise is far too strict and demanding. As one former missionary said, “Obeying God is too much trouble.” The solution her and others of her ilk is to find a church that guarantees salvation without having to go to so much “trouble.” Satan has hundreds of trouble-free offerings. As a result, God’s Love Letter to those is Satan’s church system is marked “Return To Sender.” L.J.