A Pastor’s Thoughts

By Pastor Wayne Sibrava, Living Water Baptist Church —

I love my job. My job is to help people make life’s most important decision. The most important decision that anyone can make is to know for sure that when they die, they will go to heaven.  

In the past month I have met people that have had near death experiences. I have heard of others that have passed away suddenly as a result of an accident, and still others have died as a result of sickness. The fact of the matter is that each of us will eventually die, and none of us knows when that day will come.  

Scripture says, “It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). 

Scripture also declares, “It is not God’s will that any perish (or go to hell), but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). 

Yet, and unfortunately, many people believe that there are many different ways to get to Heaven; however, Scripture clearly declares that there is only one way. While a person may be sincere about spiritual things, it’s possible to be sincerely wrong.  

For the first 18 years of my life I was taught that I was saved (born-again) when I was baptized at two weeks of age. Yet, when I was 17 I never had the assurance of knowing that if I were to die that I would go to Heaven. In addition, I had no satisfaction in living. I had no peace in my soul. I didn’t know why I was here on this earth. So I began a journey.  

I went into the Air Force in 1974, and after winding up at Travis Air Force Base I met someone whose life was radically different from mine. We became roommates. 

After a short period of time I went to church with him and heard a message that I had never heard before. I heard that God loved me, and that He made a way so that my sins could be forgiven and I could spend forever in Heaven with Him. I learned, through scripture, that if I confessed my sins, asked Jesus to forgive me, and that if I would ask Jesus to be my personal Lord and Savior I could be assured that I would spend eternity in Heaven with Him. Not only that, but I figured out the reason I was on this earth, which is to glorify God. 

In the fall of 1974 I made life’s most important decision, I asked Jesus for forgiveness of my sins and asked him to be my Savior. He came into my heart and changed my life. I’ve been a Christian for almost 50 years!  

If you want help in making life’s important decision, if you want to be assured that when you die you will go to Heaven, if you want peace in your soul now and to know what you’re here on this earth for, please contact me at pastor@livingwaterowego.org so that I can help you make this very important decision.