Let us talk about something many of us would rather tiptoe around.
There’s a question that has the power to shake us to our core:
Would you still serve Jesus if there was no heaven to gain or hell to avoid?
Would you still bow your knees, lift your hands, and pour out your heart if all that waited at the end of your days was Him, nothing more, nothing less?
For many, the honest answer would be no.
And you know what? I understand why. It is not because they are wicked or coldhearted. It is because their journey with Jesus Christ stopped at the starting line. They came to Him afraid of hell or drawn by heaven’s beauty, but they never moved deeper into knowing God Himself.
They never discovered the treasure of His presence right here, right now. Their journey with Jesus began with a thunderclap of fear, and yes, I was one of those.
I still remember those good old scary sermons about the lake of hell fire, as they called it. Those sermons were the kind that made your hair stand on end, even if you came with it laid and gelled. They were fiery and vivid enough to make you sweat even in the harmattan cold, with preachers who painted the lake of fire so colorfully you’d think they’d just returned from a guided tour.
Oh, how vividly they painted it, flames leaping higher than skyscrapers, demons cackling in shadows, the smell of sulfur practically rising off the pulpit. We were told of heaven with its golden streets, yes, but it was the horror of hell that carved the deepest grooves into our hearts.
Fear of hell has been a major motivator for countless souls over the years. And it worked in a way. It got our attention. It got my attention. I accepted Jesus Christ because I did not want to roast in the eternal flames of hell.
From ‘I Do’ to Intimacy
While the sermons on hell fire may have seemed harsh, God in His mercy used it to awaken hearts slumbering in sin. Yet He desires our love to mature beyond fear into intimacy. John wrote, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” (1 John 4:18)
Isn’t that the heart of it? God does not want us living with one eye on the exit sign to hell; He wants us with eyes locked on Him, hearts captivated by His beauty.
Can you imagine a bride who says yes to her groom only because he has a big house?
Or a husband who stays just because his wife cooks well and after the wedding, refuses to consummate the marriage?
If there is no love, no longing for the person themselves, the relationship is hollow, a contract rather than a covenant.
Oh, how many believers stop at “I do” but never go on the honeymoon of knowing Jesus deeply.
They treat salvation like a wedding ceremony but forget that the marriage is meant to unfold day by day, conversation by conversation, joy by joy, even tear by tear.
That is where love grows.
That is where our faith becomes relationship.
For many, the journey never moved beyond the starting line. Salvation was treated like a golden ticket rather than an open door into a lifelong relationship, an invitation to abide, not as a fair-weather guest in God’s house, but as a beloved child who refuses to leave the Father’s side, no matter how quiet the room feels.
But here is what I wish someone had told me then: salvation is not just about escaping hell or making it to heaven. It is about knowing a Person, loving Him, and letting Him love you. Because if your relationship with Jesus Christ never grows past that initial fear, you will find yourself drifting the moment you cannot feel Him.
Our Walk With God Was Never Meant To Be Built On Feelings
But here’s the truth I’ve learned in the valleys: our walk with God was never meant to be built on feelings alone.
Remaining in Jesus beyond the starting line of salvation requires knowing by faith, knowing, even when your emotions scream otherwise, that you are connected to Him because His Spirit lives inside you.
Talking to Him even when it feels like your words bounce off the walls.
And oh, how that ache of silence can hurt. I have been there, crying out with every fiber of my being:
“God, where are You?”
It felt like shouting into the void, like dialing a number that kept ringing with no answer. My heart ached so badly it felt like a physical wound. In those moments, doubt whispered, “What if this is all just you talking to yourself?”
It’s like how the bride captures the ache in her heart as she searches for her lover in Song of Songs 3:1-4:
“All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him. I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him. The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. ‘Have you seen the one my heart loves?’ Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go…” (Song of Songs 3:1-4)
But the Spirit of God now dwells within us, not outside, not in a distant temple, but right here, closer than our breath. And even when it feels like we’re talking to ourselves, faith declares we are heard by God who bends low to listen. Psalm 116:2 says “Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.”
It’s talking to Him when it feels like you’re talking to the air. It’s praying even when your heart feels numb, because He is with you and His Spirit lives inside you.
It’s like marriage again, there are days of dancing under the stars and days of sweeping the kitchen floor or doing the laundry in silence, but the love is no less real in the mundane moments than it is in the jaw dropping ones.
The secret is abiding…remaining..
The reason many believers can’t seem to remain in that place of connection is simple: they have not learned to anchor their hearts in His Word. If you do not know what He says, you will chase fleeting feelings or shallow affirmations.
The bedrock of abiding is the Word of God. Without it, we drift. We start looking for God in feelings, in circumstances, in signs and wonders, but He has already spoken, and His voice is perfectly preserved in those black letters on white pages.
First Lessons for the Bride
I wish we would teach new converts to the faith this from day one.
Oh, what a difference it would make….
I wish we would teach them to chase the Person rather than the feelings or encounters or rewards, so that they would anchor themselves in unchanging truth.
I wish every new believer would hear this first truth: the God you accepted loves to guide you by His Spirit, who now lives in your spirit.
Sometimes His communing with Him feels like your own thoughts;
other times, it feels like talking to yourself, but don’t stop. Keep at it.
The more you walk with Him, the more you’ll realize you’re receiving insights, comfort, and wisdom you could never conjure on your own. And you’ll come to the joyful, honest conclusion: I could not have known these things if He wasn’t speaking.
He doesn’t tear roofs open or kick down doors just to shout over your ceiling fan. He comes quietly. He speaks softly, like a friend leaning close. He wants you to grow, not through circus acts of the miraculous alone, but by His written Word and His Spirit within you.
So maybe the first lesson we should give every new believer isn’t about hell or heaven but about the God who wants to walk with them through every ordinary boring day.
The God who wants them to find Him in the Scriptures and in the stillness of their hearts.
The God who is never in a hurry but always on time.
So let’s come back to the question: Would you still serve and follow God if there was no heaven or hell?
If you truly know Him, you will find yourself saying yes, because you will discover that He Himself is the reward.
His love is better than life (Psalm 63:3).
His presence is heaven on earth.
