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Why Should I Be A
Christian?
This is the most important question any person can
ever ask, because nothing -- absolutely nothing -- is more important than our
eternal salvation. Life is short, and someday our time on this Earth will be
over. But eternity is forever -- something we can barely imagine -- and yet,
tragically, countless people never stop to prepare for eternity.
The Bible tells us salvation is a gift from God --
a gift we receive by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. When the jailer in the
town of Philippi asked Paul and Silas how he could be saved, their reply was
clear: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).
But what does it mean to "believe" in Jesus? It
doesn't mean simply to believe He existed, or even that He died on the cross to
save us. The word "believe" in the Bible means "to trust." It means to believe
that through His death and resurrection, Christ paid the penalty for our sins
and conquered death -- and then to commit our lives to Christ and trust Him
alone for our salvation.
Let me illustrate it this way. Suppose you were
hiking and came to a bridge. You might believe that bridge would hold you --
but you wouldn't really "believe" in it until you actually put your trust in it
and walked across it. The same is true with Christ. By faith turn to Him and
trust Him alone as your Lord and Savior today.
Probably the most compelling reason to become a
Christian is for the sake of your eternal soul, and the fact that if you are
not a Christian when your physical body dies, your soul will spend
eternity future in the lake of fire.
However, when you accept Jesus Christ and confess
your sin nature before the Lord, you will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
By accepting, loving, and listening to the Holy Spirit you will begin to
develop a personal relationship with God. After all, the Holy Spirit is
God, as is His son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, through the Holy
Spirit God will live in you.
The Trinity of God may seem very confusing to
seekers and new Christians, but the Trinity expresses but three aspects of God.
In way of illustration let me use this example; just as you are a son, a
father, an uncle, a grandfather, a brother, a husband, or a daughter, a mother,
an aunt, a grandmother, a sister or a wife, God has three aspects, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.
By becoming a Christian you will never again be
alone. God is always with you. God is always protecting you, God will always
listen to you. God will always Love you, forgive you, and comfort you. There is
a poem that I have always loved, you have probably read it before, written by
Mary Stevenson in 1936, that expresses this point better than
I:
Footprints
in the Sand
by
Mary Stevenson
One night I
dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I
noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered
me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints,
so I said to the Lord,
You promised
me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?
The Lord
replied,
The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I
carried you.
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