As I walk through the dark cold hallway with an escort of guards, I start to wonder what led to this point. I suppose a lifelong series of bad decisions didn’t help my case. Regardless, I see my ‘companions’ and I have come to a door. They quickly unlock the door and throw me in the dungeon.
“You are getting what you deserve,” exclaims a guard as he throws rocks at me.
“You are a complete loser,” mocks another as he gives me the “L” sign with his fingers.
“I told you, you would amount to nothing,” proclaims another guard with a smirk grin.
“Burn in Hell,” shouts the other guards in glee.
“This will be a better world. No one likes you anyway,” they shouted as the door shut.
The accusations hurt, but I don’t disagree because this is how I feel anyway. My only hope is to die quickly.
The dungeon has wet moldy cement blocks. It’s very cold and misty with very little lighting. I can feel the rats already crawling over me, sniffing as if I am their next meal. Above me are spirit-looking beings flying around. They have pale skin, with rigid teeth, and blood running down their bodies. They look half dead, with beaten bodies, and bruises all over. There must be thousands of them all chanting one word together, and other times just random. That singular word is ‘die’. I am guessing that is what they would like me to do. To be honest, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea, especially since I can feel the rats biting different parts of my body; sometimes drawing blood as they rip my flesh apart from my bones. Man, the horror seeing these critters eating my skin is beyond comprehension. It terrifies me to think how long this could go on.
As I look around, I can see many doors in the dungeon. I wonder if one of them lead to a way out. I can also see decomposing bodies by a lot of those doors. Their bodies half eaten by rats, but something weird about their fingertips got my attention. The fingertips were exposing their bones as if they were trying to scratch their way out. It must be so awful in here that people are rubbing away the skin and muscle all the way to the bone. Ouch, just bitten by another rat. It hurts so bad that I could scream. I don’t in fear that it will attract more rats.
Then, one door catches my eye. It is a beautiful door with flowers around it and well-lit. The spirits are nowhere near it and the rats do not seem to want to go anywhere around it. It is literally the only area that is not wet and it has no signs of death near it. In fact, only life seems to permeate around that door. I notice it has a sign on it with a message.
It reads, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Light!”
I know what this means. I have rejected that message my whole life. I can remember laughing at all those Jesus freaks my whole life. I mean come on. Who can create the entire universe in just six days? Am I really to believe all the world’s problems came from one man’s sin in the Garden of Eden? Am I to believe our modern-day Earth is a result of a world-wide flood that only one family survived in an Ark filled with two of every kind of air-breathing animal? I grew weary of hearing about a 6,000-year-old Earth. We all know it’s millions of years old and that we all evolved from nothing. I keep trying to tell people evolution proves God does not exist! Then, to top it all off, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came down from Heaven to redeem man’s sin by paying the penalty for us by suffering and dying on a cross. All because He loves us so much that He was willing to die for even those who curse His name. If it were me, I would destroy anyone who defies me. I mean who does that. Who dies for someone who hates you so that you can live with Him in Eternity? And now, that I am at the last part of my life, here is one last deception by the Jesus freaks. They put a door which looks enticing and more beautiful to trick me into believing their lie. Well, I will not fall for it. I would rather die and be eaten by rats than to follow some being who claims to be all-powerful. There must be another way out of this dungeon, out of this Hell. All I know is, I will die trying to find a way out before I fall for the lie of Jesus Christ.
Ah… another rat just tore into my side. I can’t take much more of this agony. I begin to wonder, what if the Jesus freaks were right. What if all of it is true? I can open the door and be in paradise. All my pain, sorrow, misery gone. I can have all my mistakes washed away by His blood. I can get another chance. What if all those things about evolution I heard in school and by the world’s top scientist were false? What if the big deception is the world was not created by a series of just happenstance? What if God is real? What if He did create everything we see? What if He sent His Son to die to reconcile us back to Him? What if He loves us, no wait, what if He loves me that much? A sinner who spits in His face and laughs at His followers. What if even after every bad thing I did, that He still loves me so much that He sent His Son to die for me.
At this point, the decision was very easy. I got up and with every ounce of energy, I ran to the door which leads to Jesus Christ. I get the door open, and there He is, arms open, ready to embrace me. His body radiated light with just a majestic look about Him. With one word I would speak.
“Jesus?”
With great anticipation, His response was a classic one.
“I AM who I AM”
John 3:16 King James Version (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
© Crow Lore
Check out new posts and what is coming next:
Short Stories
Likes
1222 Views
Share: