You will be. You will be.

 If you grew up in the 70's and 80's, you know the words of the title are a line from a movie.  A muppet said them to Luke Skywalker in the second Star Wars movie, which was #5 if you're binge watching the DVDs.  The young Skywalker told the Jedi Master that he was not afraid.  Yoda's reply was this:  "You will be.  You will be."

Perhaps I've written about this before but I just saw a commercial again from Ron Reagan, who is unashamedly an atheist and to his own credit, at this point in his own life, he's not afraid of burning in hell.

He's not afraid of it.  He's also acknowledging that's where he's headed.  I think it's easy to make stupid statements like that when you have no real concept of it.  Jesus described it as utter darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth a couple of times in parables he told.  He also used the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to describe what hell was like.  You can read the account in Luke 16:19-31. To hear the rich man tell it, Mr. Reagan has much to fear about hell.  It doesn't sound like a fun place to spend eternity.  Neither does the lake of fire, which is where the unsaved will wind up after the Great White Throne of Judgment

Hell, as Mr. Reagan points out by what he doesn't say, is a choice he's made for himself and he's good with it.  He's not afraid of burning in hell.  He's not scared of the day coming when he has to kneel and confess that Jesus is Lord before the God he does not believe in judges his life.  As a life-long atheist, Mr. Reagan in his confidence is not wise in his boasting, and I feel bad for him.

I just don't understand why that looks like a good alternative to a life with Christ and all that has had to offer for me.  I have an incredible life and I'm so free from things that I used to be a slave to.  I still am a work in progress, and will be until I die or Jesus comes for me, and with the way things are going, I'm not sure which will be first.....

I don't say that lightly.  With the way things are these days, like all believers should be doing, I'm keeping oil in my lamp, and a watchful eye.  Some good things are happening that hopefully I will be able to share about soon, but even in those I'm paying far more attention to what God has to say about the way I should conduct myself.  It could happen at any moment.

One thing I have in common with Mr. Reagan:  I too, am not afraid of burning in hell, but for far different reasons than him.  First, no thanks to anything I did, but because entirely of what Christ did on the cross for all those who will accept the free gift of Salvation, I get to spend eternity with Him.  Heaven is a very real place and like all born-again believers, I have a home there.  I fear God.  I have a healthy fear of God.  That's a good thing.  But I also love God with all my heart, all my mind, soul, and strength.  I have this incredible relationship with Jesus and with the Father (the best dad a kid ever had!).  I have this adventurous life that's amazing and I missed out on so much when I thought I knew everything there was to know about the Bible and was sure the balance scale of judgment would work out in my favor.  Boy what a lie I was believing there......

Hell is real.  So is heaven and because I said yes to Jesus,because I humbled myself and confessed that I needed my sins to be forgiven, and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior, just as people have for the last 2000 years or so, part of His promise to me is that I get to spend eternity with Him in a place where there is no more sickness, no more tears, no more death.  That stands in sharp contrast to the place the rich man describes in the Gospel of Luke.  

So, I just can't help but think to myself when I see this ad...not afraid of burning in Hell?  You will be.  

You will be.