My wife’s name is Carla. Carla and I have a wonderful relationship; she endures me and I adore her. Works great for me but it’s pretty tough on her from time to time. There have been some times when her wise spirit and my adventurous spirit have come into direct conflict. Not many but a few. One of those times was in the Grand Canyon National Park.

We’d been on a spring break mission trip and we were on a site-seeing jaunt through the area. The students and I were in awe of the surroundings and the canyon was so enourmous. It is the only God-sized hole I’ve ever seen. All of us wanted to get a closer look and so we scurried to the edge of the precipice to peer over the edge. There was a small restraining wall with a sign that suggested we not go beyond it but one could hardly notice the little orange thing so we abandoned caution and proceeded with all speed toward the cliffs.

Remember, we’re at the Grand Canyon. This hole is several thousand feet deep. The shortest drop at any given point would be hundreds of feet, at the least. No, I was not hanging on the edge of it nor was I allowing any of my students to do the same. I was, however letting those babies get way too close for my wife’s approval.

I’ve never had a problem with Carla on any of our trips. We’ve been from Mexico to D.C. and she’s never been anything but a huge help to me. But on this day she rebelled. She ran to the edge of the restraining wall and began to plead with me to bring the kids back. I tried to calm her down but the more I argued the louder she got. Finally, through tears and shouts she ran us all back to safer ground. Not before we got a picture but sooner than I wanted. The kids were bummed out about it and I was a little disappointed in her. I mean, she really broke down in front of everyone. I tried to reassure her that we were perfectly safe but she just kept saying, “You can’t be sure of that. What if we lost one of them”. I couldn’t argue with her.

The truth is that my fascination with the place had caused me to lose my perspective and take unnecessary chances or allow others to do the same. Those guys were far too precious to let them risk their lives simply because we percieved something to be safe when, in reality, it may not have been. Now, the cliff did not collapse and there were no fatalities but there could have been. We played close to the edge of distruction and lived to tell the tale but perhaps the pleadings of my wife preserved us. We’ll never know that for sure. You see, the weight of the lives of those students was resting squarely on the shoulders of my wife and she was not willing to risk one of them to chance. She embarrassed herself on their behalf because she was in fear for their lives and she was going to do what ever it took to preserve them. Boy, was I in trouble when she got me home.

There are friends and family members and acquaintances and co-workers who are playing near the edge of a much greater canyon. Do you feel the weight of their souls? The edge of existence is close. Any one of us could slip out of this world in a second. Heaven or hell is in the balance. None of us came here to stay. The one thing in life that you can be sure of is that it will end and at the end there will be a judgement. Does the weight of that fact cause you any pain or discomfort? Do you feel it so strongly that you would implore those on the other side of the “restraining wall” of God’s grace to step over into safety? Do you feel so certain of it that it would bring you to the point of tears or embarrassment?

Hell is as real as heaven and earth. There are people who exist, if you can call it that, there right now. The rich man from Luke 16 is suffering there and has been for over 1000 years. Did you understand that. That man has been burning alive in hell for over 1000 years and it’s only the beginning. It’s not going to get better for him. It’s not going to change at all. He’s going to burn alive for the rest of eternity. His fate is sealed. And so is the fate of all those who do not believe in Jesus, the one and only Son of God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3.16-18)

We may or may not have been in danger at the Grand Canyon but the threat of immanent disastor was too real for my wife to endure without taking action on our behalf. Is the threat of hell so real to us that it would cause us to do the same for all those around us? Pray for me that the threat of eternal damnation becomes more real to me every day.