For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. (John 3:16–18)

With no desire to play on your emotions or manipulate some response from you, I must communicate the truth for all who read this. There are two very important facts that everyone must face.

The first: The only time to prepare for then is NOW. The second: There is no chance of change after death.

I’ve not been writing of some playful, imaginary, and entertaining scenes. I’ve been dealing with truth and reality, painful to read and, I can assure you, unpleasant to write. I do not care what you were told as you were being raised, or what you have been taught later on by whomever. According to an intelligent and careful study of the Scripture, I can assure you on the authority of the Word of God, this is the truth. You must prepare for it now since there is no chance of changing things after you die.

What is the issue? I turn to the letter of 1 John to answer that question. John explains the issue in simple terms. It is relatively simple to read and easy to grasp, but the question is: Will you believe it?

And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11–13)

Don’t misunderstand. Everybody has eternal life because everyone has an eternal soul. The issue is not “Do I have eternal life?” It is, rather, “Where will I spend my eternal life?”

Taken from Growing Deep in the Christian Life by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1986, 1995 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com