There are, of course, many different reasons people choose to follow Jesus, but I would assert that most of them can be reduced at their core to one of two driving forces: running toward heaven or fleeing from hell.
For running toward heaven, I think of people who are motivated by the idea of spending eternity in paradise, face-to-face and arm-in-arm with the Triune God. They are eager to enjoy abundant life, both now and forever, and are perhaps looking forward to being reunited with loved ones who also accepted Jesus as their Lord.
On the fleeing from hell side, the motivation is more likely to be an overwhelming desire not to spend eternity suffering unimaginable agony.
I know I've made these out to be mutually exclusive, as though you have to be purely in one camp or the other. But I know the reality is probably that we can fluctuate between the two key motivators daily, and sometimes even more frequently than that.
However, I've made the distinction to give our minds and hearts something to ponder. Let me add the caveat, though, that at the end of our days, it won't matter what path we took to become followers of Christ--the important thing will be that we became His followers. Having said that, I'll suggest that our daily walk with Jesus might be more fulfilling and enjoyable if we make a conscious effort to allow our continuing faith to be motivated by running toward heaven.
Why do I say that? Well, running toward heaven is about love. It's about wanting to be in God's presence because we love Him so much, because we are so grateful for the countless ways He has blessed our lives. It's about yearning to be welcomed home by a cloud of witnesses, which will hopefully include loved ones who have gone before us.
Whereas fleeing from hell is about fear. It's about being terrified of eternal torment, about eternal separation from God. Imagine being able to see the people enjoying everlasting life with our Creator in paradise, but not being able to cross the chasm separating you from them (as Jesus suggested in His story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31).
Now, don't get me wrong. We should be terrified of those things. But if we're motivated mostly by fear, our faith might become twitchy and jumpy, waiting for judgment to crash down on us the next time we screw up.
That kind of outlook misses the greatest gift God offered us: His grace.
I like the way the Apostle John put it in his first letter:
So the question is this: would you rather live a faith and life motivated by love or fear?
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