The Green Door
I had a very unusual dream that reminded me a little bit of Alice in Wonderland. I still don’t know how I got down there in that awful place! I think maybe I was out walking and found a passageway that I wanted to explore. It was almost as if I’d wandered into Hell by accident and wasn’t supposed to be there.
It was completely underground with brightly lit hallways, almost like a hospital, as it had very nice polished floors. I wandered along, looking at things and trying to peek in the rooms to see what was in them.
In each room there were people doing a different thing, but it seemed like everything they were doing was totally futile and a waste of time. They were all very, very busy but accomplishing nothing, getting nowhere.
Scientists conducted endless experiments that never bore any useful results. They shot rockets into space that either never got off the ground, or never went anywhere.
A soldier was on the battlefield, while bombers zoomed overhead. With shells screaming and landing all around him, he seemed to be going through the endless hell of war, just like he had been on earth.
A fugitive politician was running from a screaming crowd that wanted to lynch him, and he was running and running, trying but unable to hide.
Everything moved at a very slow pace, but there was no stopping. Workers never stopped working, soldiers never stopped fighting on the battlefield, scientists never stopped experimenting. Whatever people were doing, they did it all the time, continuously, and yet they never seemed to accomplish anything or get anywhere.
As I looked in all those rooms, I had this terrible apprehensive feeling. I thought, Wow! This must be Hell! What could be worse than that? Everything was an extension of the same meaningless, purposeless, fruitless, painful, sad existence that these people had on earth. As the Bible says, “There is no peace to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:21).
They keep doing the same things and going through all that agony and suffering and pain-the private hell of their former existence-but now absolutely useless and without relief or surcease or any hope of it ever ending. It was terrible!
It was similar to how many people live today. They get up in the morning, go to work, do the same things every day, come home, go to bed, and get up and do it again. What do they ever accomplish? What do they ever get out of life?
I never thought of Hell being like that. It was a very neat, well-organized place, but there was no end to the misery, no peace, no rest, and no one knew what was the truth. That’s about the worst thing I can imagine — not just burning up with literal flames, but constantly burning with that fruitless fire of endless, useless endeavor, ceaseless struggle, pointless pain, and seemingly endless sorrow and suffering!
It was just the opposite of the ecstasies of life in Heaven for those of us who know Jesus and are saved. Heaven will be an extension of the present happy life we now have. Though we’ll still have work to do there, we’ll be even happier then, with lots of mobility, accomplishment, progress, variety, travel, and freedom. The afterlife will be thrilling and fascinating for us. It will be an extension and amplification of the joy and exciting lives we now lead — our present happiness multiplied many times over and with manifold blessings we can only imagine now!
In the dream I exited that polished Hell through a stairwell that led up to a dark green, weed-covered, grave-like hole in the ground. It reminded me of a song that was popular a number of years ago, “The Green Door.” The song was about a fellow who was wondering what was on the other side of a green door, and it turned out that the green door was the grave!
So watch out for that green door! It may lead to a realm where you don’t really belong and certainly would never want to be! Be sure you’ve got your name written in Heaven and your reservation confirmed for one of those mansions in God’s heavenly city instead (Luke 10:20; John 14:2; Revelation 21:27). That’s the place where you’ll be happy forever with Jesus. If you receive Him now, you can enjoy Him and Heaven forever. Then you won’t have to be afraid when it comes your time to die. You’ll know which direction you’re going — not down to a polished Hell, but up to a happy Heaven!
Jesus said, “He who hears My Word and believes on Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24 KJV). Receive Jesus’ forgiveness for your sins and get your free pass to Heaven — Jesus’ gift of eternal life — by simply praying the following:
Dear Jesus, I know I’ve done wrong and don’t deserve Heaven, but I accept Your sacrifice on the cross for my sins and receive Your love, forgiveness, and salvation now. Please come into my heart and give me Your gift of eternal life. Amen.
The Green Door, Copyright © 1998-2012, The Family International