Just Give Me Earth!–Color Tract

Send the text of this tract to a friend today.

Email This Post Email This Post

 

Mr. Charter, my boss, was well-known in business circles, well liked by his company and feared by his competitors. He was a very successful manager of one of the company’s largest branches. But he had no use for God and was ruthless in his dealings with others. All his energy went into getting ahead.

Mr. Charter often ridiculed me for my love for the Lord Jesus, especially if a group of salesmen were around. He took advantage of those opportunities to have fun at my expense.

One morning I met my boss in the elevator as we were going to work and gave him a gospel tract. He glanced at it and handed it back with a remark that I will never forget: “Boy, you can have all the heaven you want, but just give me earth.”

That statement fully expressed his whole desire in life. I was shocked at such a philosophy. I’ve since learned that he was only one of millions who feel the same way. Not everyone is so blunt about it. Some will even say that they want to go to heaven when they die. They realize that they can’t live on earth forever, and having heard a little of the horrors of hell, they think they would prefer heaven to hell. But earth is definitely their preference!

Sudden Death

A few years later Mr. Charter’s sister died very suddenly, and within a few weeks his brother, without warning, died of a stroke. However, nothing seemed to change him.

One Wednesday Mr. Charter spent the day at his office as usual. He was feeling full of energy, and after dinner, he and his wife went out for an evening of fun. On returning home about 2 a.m., he complained of being ill. A doctor diagnosed the flu, but the following day he had lapsed into unconsciousness. He remained in a coma most of the time until about 3 a.m. on Sunday. Then he forever left everything he had loved so dearly. He died as he had lived — without God and without Christ.

Another Fool

How like the man the Lord Jesus spoke of in the twelfth chapter of Luke! He too had all his treasures on this earth. That man planned to build larger barns and increase his wealth.

“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luke 12:20).

Mr. Charter would not be guilty of carelessness in business, but in the most important transaction of his life, he had proved he was a fool. Even if he could have gained the whole world, he had lost his soul, a loss that can’t be calculated.

God speaks of this class in the Book of Revelation as “those that dwell on the earth.” It is also translated “earthdwellers,” which expresses the choice of millions. In that book God reveals the judgments that are about to fall on such people.

What About You?

Are you guilty of this foolishness? Are you exchanging your immortal soul for what you will leave behind when you die? God says, “Death [has] passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

God has warned you that after death comes the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Don’t wait any longer to come to God! Confess that you are a sinner, and accept the Saviour He has provided. Don’t wait for a more favorable opportunity — it may never come.

This night your soul may be required of you.

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

Time Is Short–Large Print Tract

How Do I Imprint My Tract?

Find many more choices in the Lage-Print Tract Galleries.

The giant print and message shown below make this an excellent tract for your next visit to a nursing home. It looks great in color or black and white.

Time Is Short
A young man came to a Christian, an old professor in a college. He asked the teacher, “How long before death should I prepare for eternity?” The professor’s answer was: “A few minutes.” The youth, pleased, determined to have his fling, sow his wild oats, and “see life” in all its aspects. Then, a few moments before he closed his selfish eyes in death, he would ask God to have mercy on him!
“But,” asked the professor, “when are you going to die?”
The youth replied, “I can’t tell.”
“Then,” said the kind man, “GET READY NOW, you may have only a few moments to live.”
I’ve traveled widely and have yet to meet anyone who wants to go to the lake of fire, there to endure the “eternal judgment” of God. All hope to be saved someday and to escape that awful doom.
Many persons would like to be saved, but they say they are waiting God’s time. God knows the best and proper time for a man to be saved. He says it’s NOW.
There is no promise in God’s Word that a man will be saved next week, or next month, or next year, or when he comes to his deathbed, or at the eleventh hour, as some people foolishly say.
God’s pledge is that He will save a man when he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ—not when he says he believes, but when he does believe. His word is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
“The time is short.” Eternity is near. The dark clouds of judgment are gathering and are about to burst on a Christless, guilty world. But before this takes place, the voice of God says: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
“Come NOW, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18) is unequalled in Scripture for tender graciousness.
God’s word is “come,” and He tells you when to come: “now.” He concludes this magnificent verse with the promise of cleansing you from all your sins.
Another strikingly earnest verse is: “Acquaint NOW thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee” (Job 22:21). Again the word NOW confronts us. It tells us that THIS IS THE MOMENT to be acquainted with God by Christ Jesus—to be at peace with God through Christ. He has made peace for us with His precious blood, and only by its cleansing power can we be saved.
The invitation of Jesus is: “Come; for all things are NOW ready” (Luke 14:17). There is nothing left for the helpless sinner to do in the matter of the soul’s salvation but to believe. Christ did on the cross all that the glory of God required, and then He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He is in that glory today as proof that it is finished and that God is satisfied. NOW He can make known to you by the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures His present salvation for all lost sinners.
The devil tempts you to put off the salvation of your soul until tomorrow. Tomorrow is too late! Tomorrow is death, the grave, the lake of fire, the eternal cry of a damned soul. God would not say “NOW” so frequently in His Word if He did not mean it, or if there weren’t awful danger in delaying, or if tomorrow would do. It may be now or never for you. God grant that it may be NOW.

It Was for Me

One afternoon a class of young girls was gathering in a small home for Bible study. One girl had been learning during the week the words of Isaiah 53, and as she was walking along she repeated the verses to herself. They merely sounded to her like a lovely song or a pleasant voice―she had not yet understood the meaning of being healed by His stripes.
“It was for me―it was for me!”

After the prayer to begin the class, Mary stood to repeat her chapter. She said the first four verses, but when she reached the fifth verse, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed,” tears filled her eyes. Before reaching the end of the verse her head dropped and her tears fell on the open Bible before her as she cried: “It was for me―it was for me!”

Intense Moment

The intense solemnity of the moment held the teacher silent. Then as Mary’s tears still fell, the older woman said: “Let’s thank Him, my dear, that it was for you.”

They knelt down, and after the teacher had thanked the Lord for opening the eyes of the girl to see Jesus as her substitute, the tears were dried and Mary whispered, “Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me and for taking my punishment.” Then the quiet calm of being accepted by God filled her heart, and she had peace with God.

Email This Post Email This Post

Adapted from Living Waters.