I heard someone say the week prior to the hurricane, "If only people prepared for Jesus like they do the hurricane!" It did seem like a lot of preparations for Hurricane Florence because we had a while to prepare. Then we just waited and it felt like slow motion. People made purchases, people traveled, people did a lot of extra work to prepare their homes, people moved their boats, people made plans to stay with others or have others stay with them. Lots of plans were made.
Many of you have made preparations to die. You know whether you want to buried or cremated. Have you made a will? Have you thought about your funeral? If so, you have been making preparations to die. Have you thought about where you will spend eternity? You have only been on this earth a fraction of a second compared to eternity.
The most important decision in your life is to decide to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior. I will repeat that. The most important decision in your life is to decide to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior.
God loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him! God watched His only child, a Son He loved more than we love our own children, die a horrible death. God is not powerless, He could have stopped the death, but His love for us is so deep He was willing to make the greatest of all sacrifices. 1 Peter 3: 18, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit."
God is patient and He can wait. While He waits, we stay dissatisfied. God does not call us to come to where He is but Her comes to where we are. He comes to us no matter where we are in our journey. The only way to become a Christian is to surrender our life, our will, and our soul to Jesus Christ.
You can never repay God for all He has given you. Accept His gift. Share this gift with others. Having salvation means you are filled with purpose, fulfillment and acceptance. When we realize what a tremendous gift God has given us, we want to please the Giver.
No one is good enough. Romans 3: 23, "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We must repent. Acts 3:19, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." He will make you a new creation! 2 Corinthians 5: 17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
If you make a conscious decision to follow Christ, you can pray the following prayer:
Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died on the cross to forgive me of my sin and was raised to life again. I am sorry for my sin and turn away from it. Thank you for showing grace and forgiveness to me even though I do not deserve it. I will seek to follow you in all I do. Help me to open my heart to receive all You want to give me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Well said Jill, thanks!