Do you have your free ticket?

For those of you who are used to my normal blog entries, mostly pictures with a few words, you will find this one much different. Our Sunday school lesson today and several recent sermons over the past month have placed a burden in my heart for those that I love and even those that I don’t know who are lost. I’m not a Bible scholar but I do understand that heaven and hell are very REAL places. I’m confident in my salvation and do not have a fear of hell for myself but my heart aches and I feel sick to my stomach for those who don’t know Jesus—He is THE ONLY way to heaven “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The great thing that so many take for granted is that Jesus, through his death on the cross and resurrection, has already paid for our ticket into heaven. It’s absolutely FREE!! All we have to do is be willing to ACCEPT His gift. So simple, yet so many have turned Him away. The Bible tells us that this gift is for everyone, you don’t have to be anywhere near perfect because we are all sinners. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). With God we don’t have to fear death but can look forward to an eternal life in heaven “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). God loves us so much that even though we are sinners he sent his son to die for us “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). To receive Christ we need to admit that we are sinners and ask for His forgiveness. Next we need to believe that Jesus died for us, was buried, and rose from the dead. Finally, we need to say a prayer and invite Jesus into our lives to become our personal Savior. “If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10: 9 & 10). If you’ve just prayed to accept Jesus CONGRATULATIONS--you’ve just received the greatest gift you can ever imagine!! Please tell someone that you love! If you’ve already accepted your free gift of salvation please copy this idea if you are a “blogger” so that those who may be reading and may not know Jesus will have the opportunity to accept His gift (we never know who is reading our blogs).