Chloe and Cole still sleep with a light on in their rooms at night.

We started out with small night-lights that plug into the wall sockets and provide a little illumination. But they both prefer a lamp, so there’s plenty of light to see if they happen to wake up in the middle of the night.

One night I walked into Cole’s room to kiss him goodnight and noticed a sharp, electrical smell. I walked over to the lamp and the smell got stronger. Not wanting to take even the slightest risk, I unplugged the lamp, got him another one from somewhere else in the house and threw the first lamp in the trash.

Could that lamp have sparked a fire? Perhaps.

While there’s no way to know for sure, I wasn’t willing to take a chance. I removed the potential danger from Cole’s room before it ever had a chance to be an actual danger. I did it because I love Cole. I did it because I want to protect him.

I began to think about how God often does the same thing. I wonder how many times there have been potential dangers around me and God removed them from my path before they ever became actual dangers, and I never even knew it.

I’m sure there are dozens, if not hundreds, of situations like that.

But one danger God removed from my path — or rather, removed me from its path — that I do know of is an eternity in hell.

Romans 5:6-9 tells us before Christ, what we deserved because of our sins was God’s wrath. Without Jesus to pay the penalty, hell was our sure, eternal destination.

Yet through Jesus’ death, God made the way for us to be forgiven of our sins and avoid an eternity in hell. He did this because he loves us. He did this because he wants to protect us and save us from an eternity of separation from him.

When I accepted Christ as my savior, God removed me from the path headed to hell and placed me on the path headed toward heaven.

Have you received Christ as your savior? If not, then you’re on a path that will take you to a place you don’t want to be. Call on Christ and ask him to save you. And when he does, he’ll put you on the path toward an eternity with him in heaven.

The Rev. Parrish Myers is a local minister living in Braselton. His column appears biweekly in Sunday Life and on gainesvilletimes.com/life.