My Greatest Regret

Sometimes a person is asked, “What do you think will be your greatest regret in life?” Personally, I have many regrets in this life, but what I’d like to share with you is what I believe will be my greatest regret in eternity. My greatest regret in eternity will be that many people I have known in my life—relatives, friends, fellow students, coworkers, neighbors, and acquaintances—will stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment and will ask why I never told them how they could be assured of eternal life in heaven. They may think something like this, “I knew you were religious; I knew you claimed to be a Christian, but you never told me how I could go to heaven someday! Why didn’t you tell me?” It is because of this anticipated regret that I would like to share with you right now—before it is eternally too late—how you can know for certain that you are going to be in heaven when you pass from this life. You may ask, “Why is it that you have this information and I don’t?” I actually learned this from someone who cared enough to share it with me, just like I am sharing it with you now. You might also ask, “Why do you get to go to heaven when many others do not?” Please let me assure you, it’s not because I am better than you. In fact, you may be a hundred times better person than I am. The truth is that we are both sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And because we have sinned, we, like all humans, deserve to spend eternity separated from God, paying for our sin. We read in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death.” The good news is that God loves each one of us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to take the punishment for our sin by dying on the cross at Calvary. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He didn’t deserve to die. He died in your place and in mine. And because of His sacrificial death and His resurrection on the third day, He offers to us the free gift of eternal life. The last part of Romans 6:23 says, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Salvation can’t be earned and it can’t be bought. No one gets to heaven by being a good person or doing good things. The Bible tells us that if we will confess our sin, ask God for forgiveness, and place our faith and trust in Him as our Savior, He will give us the gift of eternal life. We read in Romans 10:9-10, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto right-eousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And Romans 10:13 says, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” If you have never called upon the Lord Jesus Christ, asking Him to forgive your sin, won't you do it today? God is offering you His free gift of salvation, thus making you a child of God and assuring you an eternal home in heaven. That decision is the best decision I ever made. If you choose to make this decision, or if you have any questions, please contact me.