Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
The Easter weekend is upon us *Drum Rolls Please*. I know most of us {I included} get excited cause of the long weekend. Don't pretend like you don't; after the Christmas & December holidays, it is one of the longest breaks - I mean who wouldn't be excited about two 4 Day weeks back to back. It's ok to celebrate the much deserved break from work/business/school so here goes my happy dance :-).
Growing up, I remember Easter being such an interesting time. There was a church group that would come to the estate, gather everyone who was interested and screen the "Jesus Movie" from about 7pm. Fun times those ones, we would all sit in the estate field - the cold & mosquitoes not withstanding - and watch the movie, projected on some
Salvation Is A Personal Decision - Romans 10:9 "That if you confess with YOUR mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in YOUR heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." No one can make that decision for you. So many are the times I wish I could get "saved" on behalf of some close friend/family member who keeps giving excuses on why they are not crossing over but unfortunately that is something they have to do on their own.
Salvation Marks A New Beginning - 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." This just basically means that once you accept the gift of salvation, you need to get rid of the old & embrace your new life. This may at times mean distancing yourself from places, people & things that characterized your life before salvation. This may be hard but with God's help you can do it.
Salvation Is A Gift - Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the GIFT of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Wikipedia defines a gift as something given without any particular effort by the recipient or without it being earned. Nothing we do will ever make us deserving of salvation and God recognizing this, decided to give it to us as a gift. Just pose and reflect on this for a minute - imagine if God pegged salvation on your works? Will you ever deserve it? Or how much work will you have to put in to deserve it?
Salvation Is A Daily Walk - Luke 9:23 "Then He said to them all, if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow me." God knows that we exist in a fallen world & we would definitely need constant forgiveness/redemption, so He made provision for us to just live one day at a time. He gives mercy enough for every single day and with each new day - there is a new measure of mercy. Lamentations 2:22 -23 "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion fails not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."
Salvation Is Dynamic - 1 Peter 2:1-2 "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may GROW UP in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." Once you accept Christ into your life, you need to make a continuous deliberate effort to grow. Don't remain stagnant such that a few years into salvation you still struggle with/do the same things you used to do/struggle with when you were new in salvation. I find it interesting that even after being in salvation for many years, there is still much growing to be done. For those of us who are parents, think of how frustrating it is when your toddler deliberately refuses to be weaned - I want to believe that's the same kinda feeling God gets when we choose to remain toddlers in salvation :-). Hebrews 5:12-14 "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
Salvation Is Not Perfection - Now, hear me & hear me well. Salvation does not call for you to be perfect!!!!! There is only one perfect person that walked the face of the earth & that was Jesus Christ; over 2, 00 years ago. I highly doubt that there ever again will be another perfect person who will walk the face of the earth so kindly don't be too hard on yourself. I can assure you that you will fall, you will require forgiveness over & over again and many are the times you will feel like you have let God down. We are however called to emulate Christ 1 Peter 2:21 "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps."
I can tell you confidently that for the few years I have been in salvation, it has been an interesting adventure. Enjoying a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ is very fulfilling. I am far from perfect - there have been times I have messed up real bad, I have gone through a phase where I walked away from God and I recognize that it is only the grace of God that sustains me. I am glad I made the choice to accept Jesus into my life and give Him full control. If you still haven't made that decision, I pray that the Holy Spirit will keep working in your life and when the time is right & you are ready, you will ask Jesus to come into your heart.
Dear Lord, I humbly come before you recognizing that I am a sinner and there is nothing I can do to save myself. I confess that I have lived in sin. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ to come and die on the cross for my sins. I surrender my life to you and ask for forgiveness, take control of my life and help me to live in a way that pleases you. I receive you as my Lord and savior. In Jesus name, Amen.