The Lord doesn’t want anyone to be lost. Without Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have little to hope for in the future. Sure we can live out our lives and enjoy daily moments, but what about our future? Do we know where our soul will reside after it leaves our earthly body? Dying is not the end of our lives, just another event in our life that goes on forever, through eternity.
Thus we must tell others about our faith and what it means to us. If people have not taken the gospel of our Lord seriously, how can they relate to it? They must believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior if they are to be with Him in Heaven. (John 14:6)
I lived without church attendance and Bible study for much of my life. We took the kids to Sunday School until they were teenagers. I was 79 years old before returning to God in a serious way. Then I realized how much He had blessed me all the years of my life. I certainly did not deserve His love, and I did little to acknowledge it. A startling experience in February 2004 aroused me from my negligence. I suddenly realized how much I had missed and how much I needed to do to catch up.
This was a stark change in my life and a wonderful one. Looking back I could see how my lack of faith had affected my life. Some major decisions turned out poorly. I know now that if only God had been brought into the decision process it would have been better. Even so, the Lord blessed me with so much that these unfortunate setbacks were not crucial.
I don’t think that church attendance is a pre-condition to having faith, but it is a great help after we come to faith. Some folks find their faith by associating with others in church. I did not gain faith this way. My faith was brought to me by friends that had been praying for me and it finally took root. The book “Heaven Is So Real” was sent by one of these friends right after it was published. Reading it in February 2004 woke me up to the danger that I faced without Lord Jesus as the center of my life. While I shuddered when considering where I had been headed, I marveled at the new life of opportunities for faith that lay ahead.
So what do we tell others about faith? It is easy for me to tell about what Christ means to me in daily life. But what about the world around us? Every day we read and hear about more evil and tragedies. What is the answer? If we don’t know God’s plan for the world, we don’t have an answer. The Bible has reliable forecasts for our world. We don’t know the exact timing but we know that before long the Lord Jesus will correct the wrongs. Without this faith we could think that things are only going to get worse month by month. And this will be the course until Jesus does come again. We have been given many signs that His coming will be soon, it could even be this week. Our job is to be ready for Him. This is easy but we must take the steps that He has told us about.
To know Jesus personally involves two things. First make a conscious decision and a commitment. In my case in 2004 I actually wrote and signed a note to Jesus saying that from then on my life is His. I told the Lord “Yes I want to belong to you Lord Jesus Christ”. By this we invite Jesus into our lives to be our living Lord and Savior. When we make this commitment we begin to realize that we then have the incredible privilege of being willingly obedient to Him. As we exercise this privilege we find that our love for God and for others multiplies mightily. We feel the need to thank God for our blessings. As we read the Bible seriously we find “tips” from God about our lives. I found that hidden way back in my mind was the need to forgive others whom I had thought wronged me. Even today I search my mind and sometimes discover grudges against some person, especially a politician. Realizing that in our wonderful country we have the right to disagree even on serious matters takes us to knowing that others have the right to be “wrong” in our view, and we should not hate them for this.
Perhaps in the past I did not fully comprehend that God is a living entity. I relegated Him to a place that perhaps I could turn to in emergencies. Now I talk to Him in prayer several times a day as a friend that I need and can trust. I know that He loves me and always wants only the best for me. I am fully committed to living my life for Him which means doing whatever He wants for my life. This is not a burden but a blessing to me. Everyone can have this blessing.
Until recently I did not really know Jesus. I enjoyed the Christmas stories and a few of the hymns but that was my sole experience with Christ. I was not even sure how Jesus related to God the Father. Now I know that Jesus is God along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. We were told by Jesus to direct our prayers to our Heavenly Father, but to ask for blessings in Jesus’ name. Anything that we ask for in His name will be granted, providing that God believes it is in our best interest. This leads a person to wonder why prayers about healing are not always answered. We can just be sure that it is part of God’s plan for our lives, on His timetable.
Some folks shy away from committing to Christ as they think that things that have occurred in their lives would never be forgiven. This is not true. If we genuinely confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, these sins will be forgiven and forgotten by God. Others think that they don’t have time for God and that everything is going along just fine. “I really don’t need you God”, they might think at least subconsciously. And for some this might actually be the case. Their lives are what they want them to be without any “interference” from Him. But it is strange that when life does not continue down ‘the yellow brick road’ the way we want, then we might turn to God. When God is all we have, He is all we need.
But what about our lives in eternity? Some believe that when we die that is the end. Satan tries to get this thought across as then he knows we won’t seek God. But fortunately or unfortunately depending on your view, physical death on this earth is not the end. We are not just bodies that happen to have a spirit and soul, we are souls that happen to be in these earthly bodies. Our soul existed before we were born and will exist after we physically die or are taken from this earth. There are only two places where our soul will reside after it leaves our bodies, – with God in Heaven, or in hell with Satan. It is our choice to make while we are alive on earth! If we do not make a choice, by default Satan will claim us. Do we want to leave this choice to chance? For me this is a no-brainer now that I know Jesus for the wonderful blessing that being His offers even in this life.
I am still very much interested in life on this earth, especially in relationships with others. But I no longer cherish many things that used to be enjoyable. I have gladly given up earthly possessions when doing so will help others. Does this make me godly? No, but it makes me feel better. Do I feel that I have to go to church? No, but I now have the desire to do so that was suppressed these many years. There is no downside to this relationship with Jesus, and the upside is beyond our imagination.