Almost Heaven

I have been to West Virginia. It is a beautiful state. My wife and I visited Blackwater Falls shortly after we were married. We also saw Senica Rock, The Sinks of Gandy, and, on another visit, we hiked the Dolly Sods area. And Germany Valley extended for miles from a highway overlook beneath our feet. It was beautiful. Almost Heaven.

I was almost drafted once. It was the first year they started a lottery. My birthday was selected third in the lottery. But I was married, in the ministry, and just a shade too old for the military. Almost drafted.

I was almost a radio celebrity once. When I pastored a church in Illinois, I had a daily five-minute radio program that aired in the Illinois Valley area of north-central Illinois. Thousands of people passed through the area every day on Interstate 80. Some of them no doubt heard my broadcast. If someone who was looking for new talent for a Christian radio station had tuned in, I might have been offered a position and become nationally known. Almost famous.

I was almost a well-known author once. I entered a manuscript in a contest sponsored by a well-known Christian publishing house. My manuscript took fourth place. The first place manuscript was offered a publishing contract. I was just three places shy of having my book published. Almost published.

Recently the story line of a popular television series brought a man and a woman together to the altar for marriage. She in her bridal gown; he in his tux. But he was not really the man she loved, and the man realized it just as the wedding ceremony was to begin. He walked away, almost married.

And so it goes. Almost this. Almost that. Almost.

And then there is Agrippa, King Agrippa, to be exact. His story appears in the Bible, in the Book of Acts. He was a Jew who was given the right to be the king of a certain jurisdiction of the Roman Empire. Paul the Apostle, a Jew and a Roman citizen, and a Christian, was brought before Agrippa to give his defense. The Jews had had him arrested, and Paul had appealed to Caesar. In the city of Caesarea, he defended himself before this Jewish politician.

"Now, King Agrippa," Paul said, "I know you believe the prophets." The Jewish prophets, the ones who had predicted the coming of the Messiah, the Christ. Agrippa, a Jew, believed the prophecies. Paul urged Agrippa to accept Jesus as the promised Messiah, and give his life to Him.

Then Agrippa said it. "Almost," he said, "you persuade me to become a Christian."

Almost.

Almost Heaven. Almost drafted. Almost a radio celebrity. Almost a published author. Almost married. Almost saved.

What is true in every one of these situations? Almost doesn't cut it. Almost doesn't do it. Anything that is almost something is nothing.

West Virginia is almost Heaven. It is not Heaven. I was almost drafted. But I was not drafted (praise the Lord). I was almost a radio celebrity. But I never became a radio celebrity. I was almost a published author. But my book was not published, at least not at that time. The character in the television story was almost married to the woman he loved. But the marriage never happened. Agrippa was almost a Christian. But he was not a Christian.

Almost is a tragic word. It means we came close, but never attained the goal. How many high school athletes almost scored the winning point, but didn't. How many salespeople almost closed the big deal but didn't. How many people almost trusted Christ, but didn't.

Almost is a tragic word. It means we didn't quite make it. That means we failed. In the real world, a thing is either done or it is not done. There is no value in almost doing something. Almost means the thing still remains undone, unaccomplished, unattained.

How about you? How close are you to trusting Jesus Christ to save you from your sin? Are you almost saved? If so, you remain unsaved and are still in your sins. Like the old hymnwriter wrote: Almost is but to fail, sad, sad that bitter wail - almost, but lost.

Send me an E-mail today and let me share with you how you can trust Jesus Christ to save you from the penalty for your sin. He did it for me, He can do it for you. He wants to do it for you. Write me today.