Poor Ellen: Confident But Confused

As I drove down the street in my neighborhood, I came upon an elderly woman who had parked her car in the middle of the street and walked toward my car.  I slowed to a stop, wondering what she was doing.  She came up to my window, pointing to her cell phone.  I rolled down my window to find out what she needed.  Turns out, she was lost and confused on two levels, one level having eternal consequences.  What about you?  Are you lost or confused?  Do you know the Way well enough to share it to others who need to know?

Her name was Ellen.  She was trying to find her grandson, who was working in a nearby neighborhood, but she couldn't understand the directions he had given her.  She also couldn't understand how to use her cell phone, and she wanted me to call him to get better directions.  I helped her.  I called her grandson, found out where he was, and explained it to her.  He really wasn't far away at all.  The directions to find him were quite simple.

Then, I asked her if she knew the way to eternal life, the way to heaven.  She said she did.  However, when I asked her how she planned to get there, it was clear she was just as confused and lost as she was in trying to find her grandson.  She thought she could get to heaven by her own good works.  She said she attended church and tried to do the right thing.  The bible is clear, however, that no one will get to heaven by their own good deeds (Rom. 3:10, 23; Titus 3:5).  That's why Jesus came.  He lived the perfect life we could never live and died to pay the penalty for our sins in order that, through repentance and faith, we might receive the free gift of his perfect righteousness so we can have God's mercy and eternal life. 

"For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21).  "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God ..." (1 Pet. 3:18).

I gave Ellen a gospel tract that explained the way to be saved.  And I explained to her that she must repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone as her Lord and Savior.  As I departed, and as Ellen drove off, I noticed that she did not follow the directions I had given her to find her grandson.  She was still lost.  I only pray that she did follow the directions I had given her to find Jesus and eternal life.

Will you take time to explain the Way to Jesus to those who may be lost and confused, heading to an eternity in hell?