It really does take all kinds to make up the world.  Recently while driving through town I saw a race truck painted bright yellow with a dark green name painted on it as well.  In spite of the mud that covered the truck I could make out the name on the side door of the truck.  The name was “Hell Bound.”

I realize that part of the lore of motor sports is for drivers to identify themselves or their vehicles with a name that describes their skill or characteristic and to put that on their vehicle.  Immediately I began to ponder why anyone would put a name like that on something they would have representing them.  Obviously, their desire was to have a name or reputation that inspired fear into the competition.  While their idea of being “Hell Bound” is supposed to have an effect on their competition what does it say about the person it portrays?  Do you suppose they even realize the seriousness of this concept? 

The idea of our eternal destination is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly.  This is true regardless of whether we are talking about the name of a motor sport vehicle that is supposed to represent us or our daily walk in the world. 

Being “Hell Bound” means this is what there is to look forward to…

In teaching His disciples about the seriousness of being the stumbling block He warned about the consequences in Mark 9:43-44  “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] (NAS)

 In the judgment scene depicted in Matt 25, Jesus said “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;” Matt 25:41

In the recounting of the rich man and Lazarus, we see that the roles are reversed after their deaths.  Jesus tells us how the conversation went.   “Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. Luke 16:25

In the parable of the marriage feast many had come without the proper apparel and as a result a servant was instructed to “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Matt 22:13

And finally, Paul gives us insight in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 concerning those who do not know God nor obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   They will “… pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

No, we shouldn’t make light of something as serious as our eternal destiny.  It’s easy to think that it’s no big deal, to laugh it off as “just a joke.”  God isn’t laughing.  In fact we read in Gal 6:7-8  “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

Copyright © 2002, Nolan P. Rutter