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Many are familiar with the classic TV show, “The Twilight Zone.” Though the first version of it aired in the 1960s, marathons of every episode are streamed twice a year around January and July, which keeps the show “alive” over 60 years later. What follows is how the show’s brilliant creator, Rod Serling, might try (as he did occasionally) to illustrate a biblical truth … surprise ending and all!

You are caught inside of a dream, wherein you are dying.

And in this dream, you wander into a lonely, roadside diner called THE LOOK BACK CAFÉ. The lone waitress seats you, the only customer, at the counter. Without saying a word, she places a cup of strong black coffee before you and gives you a very simple menu to peruse.

After a minute you notice that the menu is totally blank except for three columns. The waitress speaks very softly and says, in a low voice, “No food is served here. Read the menu.”

COLUMN ONE describes someone who led a life governed by the sin of self-absorption. They did whatever they wanted to do in life. No rules. No boundaries. No concern about anyone else. The question is then asked, WAS THIS YOU? “If you answer ‘yes’ after this, you can only look AHEAD to a miserable eternity when you die soon. Select this option if this is what you want,” this column concludes.

COLUMN TWO refers to someone who led a life of indecision regarding whether to follow Jesus Christ. They could never make up their mind. They were not “against” Christ, but they were not fully FOR Him, either. Again, the menu reads that if this is YOU as you look back, you’ll only see Hell ahead of you for all eternity. To make no decision IS to decide to be separated from Christ … forever. And again, there’s the option to “Select.”

At that point, you slam the menu shut and notice that the cover says “Look Back Café,” prepared especially for … (Your Name).” You try to get up and run out but suddenly you hear the front door lock, though no one is present but that lone waitress. She very softly says, “Sit down. You did not finish reading.”

With hands now trembling (there in your dream), you go to COLUMN THREE in the menu. It reads that probably less than ten percent of the world chooses this column, but it’s the only rational choice. It requires walking on what the Bible calls “The Narrow Way”: Repenting of ALL your sins. Trusting in Christ alone for your salvation, knowing that good works cannot save you, but you do them anyway out of love for Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. You love GOD and MAN. No room for self-absorption or self-seeking, you must pick up your cross and die daily. You must read, believe and LIVE His Word, with His Help! You must resist sin, in all of its forms, with the power of the Holy Spirit. If you select this column, from the heart, your life is just beginning!

At once, you hear the front door unlock by itself, you look at the waitress smiling as she slowly disappears before your eyes. You run for the door, and exit, and you awaken.

You’re in church!

You fell asleep in the middle of your church service, right in the middle of the pastor’s sermon! But now you’re awake for the end of the message, which comes right from the Bible and brings a joy and peace to your heart previously unknown.

The pastor is concluding his message by reviewing things he said while you were asleep:

“To sum up the message, in Matthew 16:25, the Lord Jesus Christ says ‘For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for My sake will find it.’ If you live totally for yourself, you will eventually perish and go to Hell.

“Also in Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew 12:30, Jesus said ‘He who is not with Me is against Me.’ There is no neutral ground with Jesus!!

“And finally, Point #3, even if you arrive at the end of your life and visit a place called THE LOOK BACK CAFÉ, and you review your life and realize you have wasted it in rebellion against God…living for yourself and your own sin … refusing to follow Jesus … there is still hope for you!!

“In Acts 16:31, the apostles, who were SENT by Jesus, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, said ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.’”

At that moment, you are more awake than ever before.

Was it the coffee in LOOK BACK CAFÉ? No, it was the SALVATION OF THE LORD.

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