John chapter 3 verse 16 is probably the most well known verse in the whole Bible:

Even people who don't go to church or don't believe in Jesus will at least be familiar with this verse.

In this verse it says, "whosoever believeth in Him." The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible uses the word "everyone" here, while in the Living Bible the translators prefer "anyone." Whether it says "whosoever," "everyone," or "anyone," it includes every single person in the world.

I'm really not sure how to give full expression to this verse, but I'll do my best. It says, "For God so loved the world." What does "so" mean here? When I was a child, someone had set these words to music, and we used to sing them. Even though I sang along, I didn't know what the words meant, and I didn't know what this "so" meant, either. As I attended church and read the Bible, I learned that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, and that this Son was crucified and died. It was a long time, however, before I came to a firm belief in this truth.

There are people who come to believe in an instant without going through a long process as I did. The criminal who hung on the cross next to Jesus, for example, had lived as he pleased throughout his life in this world and then, just moments before he died, he came to believe. Did he have time to attend church? He didn't have time to do any good deeds, nor did he have any way of demonstrating his faith through his actions. He was under the sentence of death, and his hands and feet were nailed to a cross, so he couldn't do anything. We don't know how rich this man was, but he wasn't able to give everything he had to the poor. Neither was there any need for him to resolve to be good if only he could be released. He was about to breathe his last, but as he hung there on the cross, he came to believe in Jesus. It didn't take any effort of his own.

If we read the Bible carefully, we find that it contains messages beyond anything that we might have imagined. The gospel is written out very simply and plainly, and yet many people aren't able to go to heaven because their own thoughts get in the way. There are people who have a hard time getting to heaven because they think it's difficult. It isn't difficult to go to heaven, but they think it is, and this prevents them from going. If it were difficult to go to heaven, all we would have to do is work hard at it. But since it's so simple, people tend to look for it in all the wrong places.

Let's take an example from geometry. A right angle is 90вк If you draw a right angle that is just one degree off or even one tenth of a degree off the error will become very noticeable as you extend the lines of the angle. The same is true of the gospel. Since it's so simple and easy, people ask, "Isn't there something more for me to do?" and they try to find something to add to it. They give themselves a hard time, creating heavy burdens for themselves.

There's a story about a taxi driver who had an especially good day and earned a lot more than he had expected. He was in a very good mood and as he drove along, he decided to give a free ride to the next person who got into his taxi, whoever it might be. Then he saw an elderly lady walking along and groaning under the weight of a heavy bundle she was carrying on her head. So the taxi driver called out to her,

"Hop in, and I'll give you a ride."

"Oh my! This is very nice of you, young man," the lady said as she got into the taxi.

The taxi driver drove along for a while, whistling as he went, but then he heard a groan coming from the back seat. He looked behind him only to find the lady still balancing her bundle on her head.

"Why don't you put your bundle down?" he asked her.

"Oh no, I couldn't do that! It's enough that you're giving me a ride. I can't expect you to carry my bags as well!"

There are many such people among those who believe in Jesus. They think, "It's enough that God has saved me. How could I shamelessly unload the burden of my sins before Him as well?"