During the gold rush of the 1800's a man named Darby and his uncle went to Colorado to find gold. They staked their claim and began to dig with pick and shovel. They soon discovered a vein of gold and were very confident that they would become rich. So, they covered up their find and went back home to family and friends and borrowed enough money to buy the equipment needed to properly mine the gold. Upon returning they did recover more and more gold. They sent a few carts of ore to the smelter and just knew they would be rich. They now only needed a few more carts of ore to pay back all their debt. But suddenly the gold vein disappeared. They drilled and drilled for several more months but found no more gold. Finally, they gave up and stopped searching for any more gold and sold their equipment to a junk dealer for a few hundred dollars. The junk dealer sought out advice from a mining engineer and then he resumed the drilling and discovered one of the richest veins of gold ever found only three feet from where Darby and his uncle stopped drilling. Sometimes humans who call themselves Christians are only three feet from eternal life, only to give up or fail to enter since the walk is often difficult because of the hardship of overcoming, bearing their own cross, suffering rejection of family and friends, or just unwilling to give up their favorite idol or sin.