Following Jesus
Following Jesus starts by recognizing that …
…God is a God of relationships and wants a relationship with you.
God is love and His love for you is boundless. He is also relational - one God revealed in three persons: Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit. If we want to know God the Father then we look at Jesus – God in human form (John 14: 8-21). And when we choose to follow Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and give us the strength to know God more.
…you cannot earn your way to God; you can only come to God because of what Jesus did for us.
All of us have made mistakes, all of us have sinned, all of us have lived as if God had no relevance in our lives. None of us can earn our way to God because of our good deeds. But God has made a way for us to know Him. Jesus took the punishment for your sin through His death and resurrection (Romans 3:21-31). All you need to do is to come to God, ask Him to forgive you for your sins and offer Him your life.
“We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.” Romans 3:22 (New Living Translation)
…knowing Jesus impacts how you live now as well as where you will be for eternity.
When you choose to follow Jesus, you get to spend eternity with Him. Yet following Jesus is not only about whether you go to heaven, it is also about how you live on earth. Jesus says that those who love Him obey His commands - to love God and love others (Luke 10:25-42).