Thursday. I went to Lowe’s to pick up some 2X4’s. But when I came to the lumber aisle, there were no carts in the aisle. None at all. So, I had to walk outside to the parking lot to scrounge up my own. As the automatic doors opened, I encountered a man returning his loading cart. “Nice man to bring the cart back in,” I thought. So I spoke up and said, “Thanks. I’ll take it,” and smiled to him with outstretched arms. But the man looked confused. Then I realized that he, like me, had gone outside to fetch a lumber cart, and here I was, trying to take it away from him. I said, “Oh, you are coming inside! Just keep it, I don’t want to start a fight over a cart!” I laughed and he laughed too. Have you ever been mistaken? Maybe you were really mistaken? It’s one thing to be mistaken about a shopping cart, but it is another thing to be mistaken about your eternal destination. Some people think that they have to do their best to get into heaven. But they are sadly mistaken. You see, salvation isn’t about what you do, it’s about what Jesus has already done. Jesus bought your salvation and paid for it with his own life! You can’t earn it, no more than you can earn a free gift. Paul said in Ephesians 2:8&9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” If we could earn salvation, we would be proud of what we had done. But salvation is all about Jesus; it’s all about what He has done. Hey, you don’t want to be surprised when you come to heaven’s pearly gates. Don’t be embarrassed like I was at Lowe’s.
