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Highway to Heaven

  • David Jeremiah Turning Point
  • Updated Sep 18, 2009
Highway to Heaven


God's "Highway to Heaven" is paved with the sixty-six books of the Bible - thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. Think of them as service stations or way stations along the road: sixty-six different opportunities for you to refuel, get directions, be encouraged and refreshed on the way from your house on earth to God's house in heaven (John 14:1-2).

The Road Map to Heaven

All the directions in God's road map - the Bible - are important. I don't mean that you have to read the whole Bible in order to be saved and go to heaven. We've all heard stories of lost souls coming across just a portion of Scripture and finding it sufficient to guide them to Christ. But when it comes to making the trip from earth to heaven, the more of the directions you know well, the less chance you have of getting sidetracked along the way.

God, in His wisdom, has given us a road map to heaven with sixty-six parts. Sadly, I have met many Christians who have only read a few select portions. They think Amos was half of a famous radio and television comedy act... and the epistles were female apostles... They just haven't studied God's Road Map to Heaven to get direction.

The danger in not knowing the Bible intimately is that, after making a strong start with the Gospel of John and maybe Psalms and Proverbs, you lose your way. And what do most travelers do when they lose their way? One of two things: They take the advice of the first person they meet or they follow the person in front of them. Bad ideas when you're trying to get to heaven. There are a lot of misguided souls wandering around in spiritual backwaters because they don't know God's Word-they don't know who to follow or how to tell good directions from bad.

The Danger of Neglect

If you drive from Chicago to L.A. today on the original Route 66, there are places where the road will simply disappear; other places where the asphalt will be crumbling; and other places where weeds and brush will be taking over the roadbed. That's what happens to roads that aren't maintained. And why aren't roads maintained? Because they're not used.

Thankfully we don't need to worry about God's Word being maintained. "The grass withers, the flower fades [and highways crumble], but the word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8). Psalm 119:89 (NIV) says, "Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens."

God's Word will never fall into disrepair. But here's what happens when we don't travel on it: We fall into disrepair! Because the Bible is living (Hebrews 4:12), it is more than just ink on paper telling us how to get to heaven. It is an endless source of revelation about God and about ourselves. Not to delve into all sixty-six books of God's Road Map to Heaven is to miss out on much of what there is to experience along the way.

In 1620, when the Puritan pastor John Robinson said good-bye to his flock as they boarded the Mayflower to come to America, he said, "I am verily persuaded that the Lord yet has more truth to break forth from His holy Word." And that remains true today. God has many things to show us about himself that we have not seen. Not "new" revelation, mind you, but revelation we've just not seen because we have not availed ourselves of all sixty-six books of His Word.

How well do you know your Road Map to Heaven? Let me challenge you to renew your commitment to God's Word as you make your way from earth to heaven. There is only one Highway to Heaven-it begins and ends with Christ. In fact, Christ himself is "the Way" (John 14:6). To know "the Way," we have to study His Road Map.

If you use God's Road Map faithfully every day, you'll never lose your way. You'll arrive at heaven's gate on time and by design.

Dr. David Jeremiah is the founder of Turning Point for God and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California. For more information on Turning Point, go to www.DavidJeremiah.org.

Original publication date: September 18, 2009