Beginning your relationship with God

Your relationship with God, like every other relationship in your life, will be determined by your attitudes and your actions. Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about these one at a time.

God’s attitude toward us:
The Bible teaches that God loves us:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” --John 3:16

It is a marvel that God thinks about us and is concerned about us (Psalm 8:4), much less that he loves us. Unfortunately, man does not return that love . . .

Our attitude toward God
Despite God’s love for us, men and women, without exception have turned away:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." --Romans 3:23

Sin means going one’s own way rather than God’s way. Whether the attitude of sin is marked by passive indifference or active rebellion, the consequences of sin are always the same: a separation between God and man. The Bible describes this separation as spiritual death:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." --Romans 6:23

It is the actions of God which lead to the solution to this problem . . .

God’s action toward us
Despite the fact that we sinned and were separated from God, God took action to restore a right relationship between us:

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -- Romans 5:8


"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." --1 Peter 3:18

Christ paid the penalty for our sins by his death on the cross. God took action through his Son to bring us into a right relationship with Him.

The only question which remains to be answered is what our action toward God will be . . .

Our action toward God
Christ’s action toward us was to die for our sins. In doing so he freely offers us the gift of salvation. But like any other gift, we must decide whether or not we will accept it:

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." -- John 1:12

Receiving Jesus involves trusting Him for your salvation rather than your own efforts. It is a matter of faith and trust, not of works.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." --Ephesians 2:8-9

The Bible illustrates this by asking us to picture Jesus knocking at the door. It is up to us to decide whether we will open the door and invite him in:

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." --Revelation 3:20

Receiving Christ
You can choose to invite Christ into your heart right now through prayer. If you would like to trust in Christ and turn from your sins to follow Him, you could express this by praying the following prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I need you. I accept your payment for my sins. Please come into my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be. I want to trust you and follow you as my Savior and Lord. Amen."

If this prayer expresses the desire of you heart, take a moment right now to pray this prayer and accept Jesus into your heart as Savior and Lord.