A Home in Heaven

"Do you really believe what your Sunday school teacher said?" asked Oscar. He was spending the weekend with his friend Michael while his parents were out of town. "Your teacher said some people won't go to heaven. If that's true, who gets to go? Do you? Do I?""Like Mr. George said, only people who trust Jesus as their Savior will go to heaven," Michael replied."Well, I don't get it," said Oscar. "Can we ask your dad?" Michael nodded, and the boys went to the living room where Michael's father was reading. Oscar cleared his throat. "Hey, Mr. Woods, everybody will go to heaven, right?" Mr. Woods shook his head. "Not everybody." He looked at Oscar and rubbed his chin. "Oscar, when you go home after school each day, do you ever ask yourself, 'Will Mom let me stay for dinner?' Or, 'Will my parents give me a bed to sleep in tonight?' Or maybe, 'What will I do if Mom and Dad don't let me in the house today?' Do questions like that ever come to your mind?"Oscar laughed at such a ridiculous idea. "Of course not! I'm their kid, so it's my home." "Well, it's the same way with God's family," said Mr. Woods. "When you trust Jesus as your Savior, you become a child of God--part of His family--and your home is in heaven with Him. If you haven't trusted in Jesus, you're not part of God's family, and heaven isn't your home." Michael turned to his friend and asked, "Are you part of God's family, Oscar?" Slowly, Oscar shook his head. "You can be," Mr. Woods told him. "You were physically born into your parents' family, so you're their son. To be part of God's family, you need to be born again--not physically, but spiritually.""How do I do that?" asked Oscar. "That's the best part--God has already done all the work for us! Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again so that we could have eternal life with Him. When we trust that His work is enough to make us part of God's family, we have a home with Him forever." Mr. Woods picked up his Bible. "Come sit and let me explain, okay?"Oscar nodded. "Okay," he said and took a seat. – Nani T. Bell