By: Kyle Austin

First, I want you to realize that God created you! And because God created you He loves you! But you and I have a problem and the problem is this, we have all broken God's law. God's Word tells us that, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Let me ask you four quick questions that you can answer to yourself.

1. Have you ever one time in your life lied? No matter how small or how big that lie is? God's Word tells us, "Thou shalt not bear false witness."
2. Have you ever one time in your life taken something of somebody else's regardless of its value? God's Word tells us, "Thou shalt not steal."
3. Have you ever desired something that someone else had that you did not have? God's Word tells us, "Thou shalt not covet."
4. Have you ever one time in your life ever disobeyed your mom, dad, or whoever your guardian may be? God's Word tells us to, "Honor thy father and thy mother."

This is just four of the ten laws that God has. If you stood before God on judgement day right now at this moment, would you be innocent or would you be guilty of breaking His law? We are all guilty of breaking God's law and because we are guilty of breaking God's law we are separated from God and when we die we will spend an eternity in Hell. Not because God desires it, but because of what you and I have done in breaking His law.

But God doesn't leave us there! He tells us, "For the wages of sin is death." Yes, that is why we die. It is the result or the payment of our sin. But He goes on to say, "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

God loves you so much that He gave His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross. Jesus died on that cross to receive your punishment that you deserve for breaking God's law. Another verse tells us this, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." God offers us a gift and that gift is eternal life.

I can illustrate this if you will imagine with me a gift wrapped box with a bow. You and I are familiar with gifts because we receive them at Christmas, birthdays, and so forth. But a gift is this. It is free. There is nothing you can do to earn it. If I am giving you a gift, it's because I love you or I just want to say thank you or let you know that I care for you. If you can imagine standing in front of me right now and I am going to extend my arm to offer you this gift. What must you do? You have to reach out and accept the gift. If you do not accept the gift, it does not change the fact that it is a gift. It does not change the fact that I am offering you a gift. So if you say I don't want the gift or I want to wait to receive the gift, ultimately, you are refusing the gift.

God has a gift and the gift is eternal life! That gift comes through the person of Jesus Christ. So you may say how do I accept the gift? Romans 10:13 tells us, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." You and I know how to pick up the phone and call. We dial the number or really we don't dial the number anymore. We press on the name or picture to call  and we talk to that person. Just the same, we call out from our heart  to Jesus Christ and tell Him that we are a sinner. We ask Him to come into our heart and save us.

So even right now you can do this. You can accept God's free gift of salvation. You can pray something like this, "Jesus, I know that I have broken your law and am a sinner. I deserve to die and spend an eternity in the place called Hell. I believe that you died and rose again for me, and I am calling out to you now to save me from my sin. I ask you to forgive me for my sins and come into my life. Help me now to live for you. Amen."

If you called upon Jesus Christ to save you, please let us know about your decision by filling in this quick form which can be left anonymous. We want to pray for you and are happy to provide resources to help you grow in your relationship and faith if you would like.