Last year on the 29th of June, the residents of Southern California had a rude awakening. Jolted from their beds at 4:58 a.m. by an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale, the first thought of many was, Is this the Big One? Has it come at last?
No, it was not the Big One. Almost three times as strong as the destructive quake in San Francisco in 1989, stronger than any other in California in 40 years, it still was not the Big One.
But - seismologists had little good news for worried Californians. Instead of releasing tension on the San Andreas fault line, the earthquake and another one three hours later may have increased seismic strain in the region.
One resident, seeking reassurance, asked a scientist if it was not foolish to sleep outside while the aftershocks continued. The scientist answered, “No, it is not foolish.”
Most certainly not foolish! Living in an earthquake-prone area, it is wise to adopt all possible safety measures whenever an earthquake advisory is issued.
But there are wise precautions to take, and also foolish ones. When a devastating earthquake destroyed much of the city of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1886, people came from miles around to be close to a certain preacher. They were not there because his home was particularly strong and safe; they were depending on being safe while near “such a good man.”
It was a nice thought, but the goodness of another man, of anyone, was no shelter. And when the final judgment shakes this world of ours, no amount of “goodness” will save - not our own, or another’s, or even the perfect, sinless life of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will shelter one soul.
If Jesus had only lived His perfect life on earth and then returned to heaven without dying, there would have been no opened way back to God. We poor humans would have been left to struggle through our little while on earth and then sink into eternal darkness, eternal separation from God, forever barred from all light and love.
But Jesus came in love, came to suffer and die. The way to God and heaven is open now. It would be truly foolish to try to depend on “goodness,” whether real or only imagined. It is not enough to say, “Oh, my father was such a good man; I’ll be all right.” “My wife prays and goes to church; that’ll take care of me”; not even to believe that “I don’t do bad things - I’m pretty good myself!”
No, only those who have admitted that there is no “goodness” in themselves and that they must have a Saviour and who have accepted the Lord Jesus as that Saviour will be safe for time and all eternity. Jesus said: I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. There is the way of safety - and there alone.