He thought he was smarter than anyone else, and took shortcuts to beat the system. So he chose crime as the easiest way to live. Finally caught and sentenced to prison, he vowed to escape, and developed a clever escape plan.
When a prisoner died, a hearse dropped off a casket, then picked it up the following morning. He contacted the prison employee in charge, and the employee embraced his plan. Several days later, the hearse arrived, so he slipped into the casket alongside the body already there. He left the lid ajar for fresh air.
When the coffin was taken out of the prison the next day and buried, the employee was to dig up the casket. The prisoner would be free, and he would pay the prison employee handsomely.
Lying in the casket, the prisoner waited, and waited, and waited for the prison employee to dig him up and set him free. After waiting several hours, in desperation, he took out his cigarette lighter and flicked it on. To his absolute horror, he discovered that the body in the coffin with him was THE PRISON EMPLOYEE WHO AGREED TO DIG HIM UP. He trusted the wrong person to free him from the grave!
The moral of the story is this: we need to trust the right person to free us from the grave. Every one of us is a prisoner – a prisoner of time and space. When our time is up, we will be headed to the grave. The Word of God describes what comes next – our souls will leave our bodies and enter the spirit world.
If we have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He will receive us into heaven with open arms, stating: “Well done, thy good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of the Lord and your eternal reward.”
Only He who overcame death with His resurrection can set us free from the grave, from sin and death. If we rely on others – Joseph Smith, Buddha, Mohammad, or others, just remember that they, like the prisoner in the story, are still in the grave.
Perhaps you believe that this is not a problem because everyone is going to heaven. That is true, but everyone will not stay there. For some, our Lord will say: “Welcome”. But for those who don’t know Christ as their Lord and Savior, He will say: “Depart from Me; I never knew you”, and you will be headed to the Lake of Fire for eternity. God will grant you your most cherished desire – to live apart from God – forever. And you will be with others with the same desire – alone, together.
So who are you trusting to deliver you from the grave? You better decide soon, because time is short, we are not guaranteed tomorrow, and eternity is a very, very long time.
To God be the glory
Life in the Spirit 