It’s strange how my 81 year old brain has information stored away that pops up occasionally, seemingly out of the blue. As I was reading the FaceBook posts of people who I know attend church every Sunday, I began to sing this line from the theme song of a 1962 movie. “One day of praying and six nights of fun. The odds against going to heaven – six to one.” The movie was, “Walk on the Wild Side” and it was released while I was a 19 year old airman stationed on Okinawa. I thought I had completely forgotten about that movie and song.
There are three points I got from that experience and I want to share them with you. First, that song lyric is catchy, but it is not correct. If you continue to live in sin while using weekly prayer and worship like a fire insurance policy against hell, your odds against going to heaven are 100%. Jesus describes such people in Matthew 7:23 at the final judgment when they will hear Him tell them plainly that He never knew them.
The second point is that we must be careful what we take in with our senses and ponder in our mind and our heart, because it could be stored only to pop up later. We need to pray with the Psalmist (Psalms 119:11 NLT). “Your word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
The final point is this. When we become a son or daughter of God through faith in Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father wants full custody of us, not just weekly visitation.