What If

 

 

What if I end up in hell

Because I got it wrong,

Numbered among the “never saved”:

Though strong but wrong?

 

What if on my own merit

I listed all I would’ve done

Only to hear the words, “depart from me”

After life’s race I had run?

 

What if given my status

Especially in some church,

I was called a worker of iniquity

And left in the lurch?

 

What if lesser mortals

Made it into heaven

And hell became my reward though

I believed I was forgiven?

 

 

 

What if as a Christian

I did all that was required

But on that great judgment day

I ended up in hell’s fire?

 

What defense have I

In heaven’s court of law

Or on what human legal experience

Could I then draw?

 

Did you not realize

These are all questions?

Have you ever given thought to such

In any form or fashion?

 

Do we have a right

To God’s mercy and grace?

Is there merit in any one of us-

Even a tiny trace?

 

 

 

If your answer is yes

Then you do have a right

But how would such stand up

In light of the Light?

 

Not well, I would imagine,

Given our sin nature

For regarding who by nature we are,

There’s a bigger picture.

 

That picture, my friend,

Is Yahweh:

The one that sees all, knows all

And has the final say.

 

No merit of heaven

But justly deserving hell

And God would still be justified

Even if no warning bell.

 

All of this is to say

We’re all without merit,

Regardless of status or ethnicity

Hell is our exit.

 

A delight in the Law

Is not a delight in the Lord

So, ‘tis only by God’s grace and mercy

And faith in His word.

 

My just dessert, I repeat,

Is a burning hell

And my argument based on the Law

Is a sure death knell.

 

“I never knew you”

Wasn’t said to the saved

But to those who highlighted works

And not morally depraved.

 

Not to the born-again,

Were these dreaded words said

But to the self-righteous Pharisees,

Who were spiritually dead.

 

 

 

What if you keep the law

But do not know the Christ,

You will wake up in hell, I tell you!

Your good will not suffice.

 

The Law cannot save,

It was never meant to

But to point us to the one who can

And that one is Truth.

 

Stewart Russell © August 5, 2025

 

The Right to Breathe

 

 

Haven’t we all-

I mean, the right to breathe?

But sometimes I really wonder

And become so aggrieved.

 

Have you ever awakened

To the air clean and fresh

And within a matter of minutes

The atmosphere is a mess?

 

Or, there’s a cool night wind

Blowing through your bedroom

When suddenly, a scorching smell

Brings an air of doom?

 

Breathing becomes difficult

So, you slam the window shut!

Of course, the offender is up wind

But down wind is out of luck.

 

And this is not a one-off thing,

It happens more often than not

And your right to breathe

Is seriously blocked.

 

To breathe becomes poisonous

For to continue you would die

But you really can’t stop breathing

Even when clean air is denied.

 

Who gives someone, anyone,

Such unrestricted authority

To stop another from breathing

While living in a community?

 

I know this appears far-fetched

Like a tempest in a teacup

But you infringe upon someone’s right

Every time that you light up.

 

It is one’s right to live

Within the comfort of his home

And to breathe in wholesome air

Whether in company or alone.

 

Haven’t I the right to breathe

Just like you breathe?

Why must you contaminate the air

That we both need…

 

Making it difficult for another

That is located downwind from you

As though clean, fresh air

Is only your right and your due?

 

The right to breathe

Is a right that’s been given by God

Who, by His great mercy and grace,

Has given of His breath to all.

 

Stewart Russell © June 26, 2023