Lauri Hawley

I recently joined an exclusive club, and the benefits are like nothing I’ve ever experienced! I could tell you all about them, but until you’ve experienced them for yourself, you can’t really relate.

This is my first grandchild, bringing me into the Nana club! He’s now one week old, and perfect in every way. If you have grandchildren that you adore, you totally get it. You suddenly turn into this strange person who has to show everyone pictures of the baby, no matter whether they want to see or not!

But if you haven’t yet been blessed this way, you think to yourself, “Is there nothing else this person can talk about?? Sure, babies are cute and all, but…” Until you join the grandparent group yourself, it’s hard to fathom the infatuation, isn’t it?

There’s really only one way to join this club–your children have to have children, either through birth or adoption, or marry someone who already has children. It’s quite the exclusive association! If your kids don’t have kids, you can’t be a member.

I joined another exclusive club almost two and a half years ago. My mom died in November of 2016. Again, until you lose a parent, you just don’t get it. Nothing can prepare you for it, even though in the back of your mind you know that eventually, everyone has a last day here on earth. The loss is, again, something that can’t be understood or felt until you experience it yourself. Until then, you may feel sorry for someone who has lost a parent, but you can’t really identify with what they’re feeling.

There’s yet another exclusive set that I belong to! And yet again, there’s only one way to join, and you really can’t fully understand all that’s involved until you become an insider. This is a completely voluntary membership, and no matter what we tell you about its benefits, you won’t fully experience them until you take the step to be a part.

This last circle is formed by followers of Christ. Jesus Christ himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) That sounds pretty exclusive to me! There are no other roads to heaven. You can never do enough good deeds, give enough money to the poor, or make a great enough sacrifice to earn your way into this fellowship.

The only way to avoid eternity in hell is by being saved from it. When you’re saved, you’re not the one doing the saving! Someone else saves you. And how can we be saved? Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9). Speak it and believe it, and it’s done!

To be saved from spending forever in a lake of fire sounds like a pretty good deal to me! But the additional benefits are innumerable. Here are just a few of them:

• Experiencing the love of God
• Joy
• Peace
• Spending forever in heaven with God, where there is no grief or pain
• Hope
• Adoption into the family of God
• Never being alone again
• God’s strength to make it through tough times
• Wisdom
• Contentment in any circumstance

Would you like to learn more about this Jesus? Get a Bible, and read through the book of John. Take your time, and ask God to show himself to you through what you read.

Salvation, becoming a follower of Christ, is accomplished in an instant. Learning to live for him takes a lifetime, and the benefits keep growing!

If you’re already living for God and have put Jesus in charge of your life, reading the book of John is a great refresher. Take your time, and ask God to open your eyes to more of his truth as you read.

Are you a member of the family of God? If not, I invite you to join us!