I was awakened by the sound of thunder reverberating throughout my entire body, but no, not thunder, rather a Voice calling to me, "Arise, it's time for you to walk the last few miles of your journey."

As I followed the Voice I became aware of the utter darkness. Why had I not noticed it before? It was so thick I felt as though I could touch it, feel it, taste it. It was all consuming. Something touched me and it penetrated my entire being. I was filled with a sense of hopelessness and despair. It drained my very soul. A putrid odor of death filled my nostrils and I became ill. The tendrils of sin seemed to coil around me, squeezing life from me. I knew I lay in the belly of evil.

Did I get there by my own choice? Surely not! I must be asleep. This had to be a nightmare, for who in their right mind would choose to live in such utter darkness, but there I was, a place of my own making. How long had I been there? If I were dreaming, I would awake and find everything was normal, but I was awake! I was filled with fear beyond comprehension. Had I died and gone to hell? Why had I slept in the arms of sin while I was alive? I had allowed myself to be lulled into a drug induced coma where truth and goodness were kept at bay and words of wisdom were spurned. I chose not to follow the path of light and now it seemed that I was forever lost in a vast darkness, always groping for the door of hope; yet never free to find it. Was it now too late?

Suddenly a light pierced the darkness of my mind, shinning directly on my past, and I wanted to hide. I found myself in what appeared to be a hallway with many doors. The first was closed to me. Then the Voice once again spoke, "This is the door of lost opportunities." Behind the door I could hear mocking laughter telling me what I could have been and done had I chosen wisely. I was filled with deep despair.

The next room had walls filled with diplomas and trophies on shelves. A well dressed man stood looking at me. He spoke, "You could have been me." Instead, I was dressed in tattered clothes and my heart was breaking.

I wondered to the next room. There was a picture of a lovely home on the wall and I knew it could have been mine, but because of my choices, my home was a cardboard box in a dirty alley,

In another room stood a beautiful woman and three lovely children which I knew were meant to be mine, but I selfishly chose a life without responsibilities. Suddenly, I became overwhelmed by a sense of loneliness that absorbed me completely.

At that point I turned a corner and came upon another room. There were a group of people, their faces radiant with joy as they praised the Lord. Again I heard the Voice. "This could have been your church family, but you chose to spurn and mock them, yet they continue to pray for you." Shame filled me and the pain of it was unbearable and I fell to the floor in tears.

At the end of the hallway was a set of double doors shut to me. As I was wondering what lay behind the doors, the Voice spoke again, "You have come to the end of your journey, behind those doors lie eternity. I give you one last opportunity to choose. I stand here knocking at the door of your heart. If you choose to let me in, you will enjoy the glories of heaven forever. However, if you choose to remain in the sin you are in, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire. This is your final choice. What shall it be?"