Chapter 9 ~ What will be your choice?

By now you will have understood the consequences of your way of life. Do you want to respond to God’s love? If you truly regret the things with which you hurt God and other people, and believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, who died for your sins on the cross, then God will forgive your sins. Then nothing is in the way for a friendship with God. And it gets even better: you will be adopted as a child of God!

But some people did accept him. They believed in him, and he gave them the right to become children of God. They became God’s children, but not in the way babies are usually born. It was not because of any human desire or plan. They were born from God himself. John 1:12-13

IPerhaps you don’t believe this is God’s plan of salvation for the world. But what else should God have done to convince you He loves you?

“Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. Accept my teaching. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. Yes, the teaching that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

What will your choice be?

Do you want to continue doing what you like, or what is important to you? Do you want to live without taking into account the purpose with which the Creator made you? That is possible. But it will determine your future. A future without God. A future in darkness, bearing the consequences of your choices and your behaviour in life.

Or will you seize this opportunity to start a new life? A life that is much more valuable and beautiful than you are able to realise now. A life as a member of the family of God. A life in which you can rely on God, that He will take care of you as a good Father.

If you choose to give God first priority in your life, He will help you. This does not mean that you will never make mistakes again, but it does mean that you can confess them to God and that He will forgive you. Let the honour of God become your focus in life. Temptation will remain and your body will still be mortal, but for your soul there will be an eternal future with God.

I hope you have come to realise what life is really all about. It is not about a nice house, a lot of money and not even about good health. Life with God is not automatically a life of comfort. Life will still be full of challenges and choices. But the big difference is that you know for Whom you are doing it, and that He will help you. You may be certain that your future is a life with and for God.

If we are God’s children, we will get the blessings God has for his people. He will give us all that he has given Christ. But we must suffer like Christ suffered. Then we will be able to share his glory. We have sufferings now, but these are nothing compared to the great glory that will be given to us. Romans 8:17-18

Not an Easy Choice

I hope you are touched by what God has done for you. Still, living God’s way and accepting He died and rose for you, is not an easy choice. Especially if you had a very different view of God so far. Especially if you live among people who don’t know the truth about God or ignore it.

Then Jesus called the crowd and his followers to him. He said, “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me. Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me and for the Good News will save it. It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost. You could never pay enough to buy back your life. Mark 8:34-37

If you choose a life with God, you will have to change. You will have to realise that you are unable to give up your sinful life in your own strength. You will have to accept that God wants to help you get out of the downward spiral of your self-willed life. By believing and trusting that He sent His only Son to save you too. You may accept His offer to become part of His family.

Do your own research

With my story I tried to explain why I am sure that I have been saved from an aimless, dead-end life. By reading the Bible, I discover more and more about God and His truth.

I also often notice that God is close by and listens and wants to help me in my daily life. Even when there are challenges and problems. It often happens that God offers a solution when I can no longer see it myself. If you trust Him, you will find that He is also close and wants to help you.

Jesus Himself says:

Jesus said, “That is why I said, ‘Anyone the Father does not help to come to me cannot come.’” John 6:65

If you are sincerely searching for the truth, pray and ask God to answer any questions you may have. Ask Him to help you find the truth. I want to encourage you to read the Bible for yourself and discover that He will also speak to your hearth through His Word (the Bible).

Do’nt wait to make your choice

Think carefully about what I say and make a choice. You can shrug your shoulders and get on with your life. That is also a choice. But I hope that you will not avoid to make the most important choice of your life. It is a choice between (eternal) life and death.

Your life is short. If you postpone your choice too long, it may well be too late. 150,000 People die every day. Sooner or later you will be one of them.

So you see that the Lord God knows how to save those who are devoted to him. He will save them when troubles come. And the Lord will hold evil people to punish them on the day of judgment. That punishment is for those who are always doing the evil that their sinful selves want to do. It is for those who hate the Lord’s authority. These false teachers do whatever they want, and they are so proud of themselves. They are not afraid even to say bad things against the glorious ones. 2 Peter 2:9-10

All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness. Romans 3:23

Trust in Him who made you

Are you prepared to let go of everything in your life and trust in God? Are you willing to give God the top priority in your life? Not just in your life, but also in your heart?

Do you realise you have already done many bad things in your life that God cannot let go unpunished? And that those bad things cannot be cancelled out by the ‘good’ things you have undoubtedly done?

‘So you must change your hearts and lives. Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins. Then the Lord will give you times of spiritual rest. Acts 3:19

Do you want to accept God’s loving offer? Do you trust that He sent His Son Jesus Christ into this world to die in your place for all the things you did wrong, for all your shortcomings? Do you trust that God wants to forgive you and accept you as His child?

Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. John 3:16

You don’t have to understand everything fully. The most important thing is  that you want to trust God and give Him all honour. That you want to take His outstretched hand. If you want to make the choice to surrender your life to God, you will have taken the first and most important step.

We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. Romans 5:1-2

Let go of your burdens

You may bring all your pride, your fears, addictions, feelings of depression, stress, fatigue and worries to Him and surrender to His love and grace.

Jesus says: “Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. Accept my teaching. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. Yes, the teaching that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Do you want to accept His offer of forgiveness and start a new life, together with God and for Him? Do you want to be part of Gods family forever?

Make your choice today!

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