Location, location, location. “The point is that location is so vital to real estate, it takes up the top three spots on the list of things you must consider” (Charron). “In a nutshell, location, location, location means identical homes can increase or decrease in value due to location. The saying is repeated three times for emphasis, and it is the number one rule in real estate, though it is often the most overlooked. You can buy the right home in the wrong location” (Weintraub). A dictionary definition for “location” reads, “1a : a position or site occupied or available for occupancy or marked by some distinguishing feature… b(1) : a tract of land designated for a purpose” (“Location”).
Irrespective of where we live on the Earth – possessor of expensive real estate or owner of none – there are only two locations fitted for the eternal habitation of souls. Our Lord Jesus Christ said that He is preparing a “place” – a location – in “His Father’s house” for His followers. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3 NKJV). That eternal abode has been in preparation “from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). The other eternal homeplace is “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” – Hell (Matthew 25:41).
Both eternal locations or places are prepared accordingly for the respective future residents. The number one rule for each precious soul to consider regarding his or her investment in eternal real estate, certainly, is location. Both Heaven and Hell are available for occupancy and possess their distinguishing features, and God designated each for a purpose. At the Second Coming of our Lord, He will appear “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
Hell is a bad neighborhood, to say the very least about it. There will reside all manner of ungodly and wicked souls. “…The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). Even sins that are no longer viewed as criminal acts, as well as sins that have attained a status of social acceptability, will spend forever in a painful existence among the worst sinners who ever lived.
Heaven, however, will present unimaginable joy and happiness without end to faithful children of God. There is hope as long as one lives and Jesus Christ delays His return. Christians at Corinth had been sinners of the most horrible sort, but they changed. The apostle Paul concluded his last of sins with acknowledgement of the transition that had occurred in the lives of the Corinthian Christians. “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). They had been washed from the sins by the blood of our Lord (Revelation 1:5). They had been sanctified – set aside for use by God (2 Timothy 2:21). They had been justified whereas before they were condemned (Romans 5:9-11).
Location, location, location. In what neighborhood would you find your eternal home if you were to die within the hour? In what eternal habitation have you been investing?
Works Cited
Charron, Patti. “What Does the Phrase ‘Location, Location, Location’ Mean?” Quora. 4 Apr 2023. <https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-phrase-Location-Location-Location-mean>.
“Location.” Merriam-Webster. 7 Apr 2023. < https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/location>.
Weintraub, Elizabeth. “What Location, Location, Location Means in Real Estate.” Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club. 28 Jan 2017. 7 Apr 2023. <https://www.tampabgcc.com/files/What%20Location.pdf>.
