AUGUST 27

Revelation 20:15

While Heidi and Dan were visiting their uncle and aunt, they went with them to Sunday school and church-but they didn’t like it much. Why? The sermon was about hell! The pastor spoke earnestly of the pain and suffering that lost souls would experience there. Dan made a face. “Wow!” he whispered to Heidi. “Is he trying to scare us or what?”

As their aunt fixed dinner, Uncle Bob set a box on the table and lifted out a round, white object. “I bought this smoke detector yesterday,” he said. “I meant to try it out, but I didn’t get around to it. Let’s see if it works.”

“We have those at home, too,” said Dan as Uncle Bob put batteries in place and then pressed a small, round button on the case. Immediately an earsplitting shriek filled the room! Heidi screamed and jumped back, while Dan covered his ears.

Uncle Bob laughed at the look on their faces. He took his finger off the button, and the noise stopped. “Whenever there’s smoke from a fire in the house, the alarm will go off,” he said. “It’s awful!” said Heidi. “Why does it have to be so loud and scary?”

“It’s supposed to be that way, silly!” Dan said. “Otherwise you might
not hear it, especially if you’re sleeping. Right, Uncle Bob?”

“Right,” his uncle replied. “The purpose of this thing is not to scare people. It’s to warn them of danger so they can avoid it.” He paused, then added thoughtfully, “It’s like the sermon this morning. Sermons about hell sometimes scare us,but actually they’re meant to warn us.”

Heidi and Dan looked at each other. “Well, that ‘warning’ this morning did scare me,” said Heidi with a sigh. “I don’t want to go to hell.”“Me, neither,” said Dan. “You don’t have to,” Uncle Bob told them. “Let’s go over God’s plan of salvation again.”

As they sat around the dinner table, Dan grinned. “I’m glad I know Jesus now,” he said. “That sermon this morning was the best scare I’ve had in my life!”

Thought: Have you been warned about hell?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know hell is a scary subject, but hell is for real! I pray I will trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and that my name will be written in the Book of Life. This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.