Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.     Revelation 20:14-15 HCSB

I have had the opportunity to spend more time with my great nephew lately. He’s six years old. The ages between two and six have always been my favorite. They are learning so much during this time in their lives. I especially love how they simplify things that many adults consider to be complex. If you want to know the simple facts just ask a four-six-year-old child.

Last week we started reading from a child’s devotional book. The first day we talked about how mighty and powerful God is. The next time we read all about God’s great love for us. When we finished our last reading, he seemed really interested in God and knowing more about Him. We also talked about the devil. We had a conversation about our behavior. He said that when we are bad, God sends us to the devil. I explained to Him that God loves us so much, He doesn’t want anyone to go to the devil. This is why He gives us chances to come to Him and pray and tell Him we are sorry. He will also help us to not do bad things. He then seemed a little confused about when God would actually send people to the devil, so I explained it to him this way. I told him that God doesn’t send people to the devil. People send themselves to the devil. I went on to say that God loves us all and wants us to come to Him, but some people refuse and don’t want to be with God. I told him these people go to the devil. I also explained that when we choose the devil then we choose to go to hell. It was an extremely hot afternoon here in Southeast Louisiana and I explained to him that hell was much hotter than it was here.

He stopped for a minute, and I could tell he was giving the situation a great deal of thought. Then he had this incredulous look on his face and said, “Wait a minute! That’s just stupid! Why would anyone want to go to the devil?” He got me. I can’t answer that. He’s right, it is stupid. And for the life of me I can’t understand why anyone would choose hell over heaven. I explained to him that some people just wanted to do what they wanted to do and didn’t want to stop doing bad things. Again, he said, “That’s just stupid.” I agree.

My friend, I can only say for many years I was stupid. It wasn’t that I was choosing hell over heaven. I foolishly thought I was so special God was just going to give me a pass. I thought God would just understand that I had been through some rough patches and would overlook my misbehaving. I was wrong. That was some stupid thinking there. Our pastor calls that stinking thinking.

I think my nephew is pretty sharp for a 6-year-old. But shouldn’t we be as smart as a 6-year-old? If he can figure it out, why can’t we? There are people spending their Sundays in church who still have this figured out. I know because I used to be one of them.

I hope to be able to read more to him from the Bible. I hope for him to develop a love and a hunger for God’s word. My prayer is that he will always understand that being disobedient to God is just stupid. My prayer for myself and others is the same. May we always understand that we serve a loving God who wants good things for us. May we always understand that to not surrender our lives to him makes no sense whatsoever.

My former pastor used to say that if we go to hell, we go as trespassers. We were not made for hell, we were made to be in fellowship with our Lord and Savior. Each and every day we have a choice to make. As my nephew would say, “Don’t be stupid!” After all, if you are reading this, I hope you are at least as smart as a six-year-old.

Have a great day!