Congratulations! You recognized your need for a Savior and have made Jesus the Lord of your life, now… what have you done since? Have you made your decision known? Have you been baptized? Have you started attending a bible-believing church and most important… have you begun building a relationship with Jesus to learn who you are, Whose you are, and what is the call on your life? If you haven’t done any of the three mentioned – what difference has the Lord made in your life? What, exactly, are you doing? You didn’t just stop, did you?
Back in August, 2010 I wrote a blog post that said:
Almost by definition, ‘first step’ implies that there are more steps to
be taken. Even if the only act you make is to take a second step
parallel (to be in balance) to the initial step. The first step is the most
important decision you’ll ever make, but once made, everything opens
up to you – it’s like you were seeing in black and white, now you see
in vibrant color.
This first step is to (publicly) acknowledge Jesus as the ONLY way to restored relationship with the Father and to accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior. But that’s only the beginning. My analogy is that if you were attending a sumptuous feast, you’d not only savor the appetizer, would you? However, that’s what many people do. They realize their need for a savior and accept Jesus as Lord and then stop.
(A simple explanation for those of you who don’t understand/believe in the only way: The Father didn’t destroy the relationship – we did. Therefore, it isn’t up to us to determine the basis of returning – He does. And God makes it extremely clear that the way to reconciliation, made simple, is to believe on His Son and the act of restoration Jesus did to effect that reconciliation.)
What the Father has ordained that must happen first – we must believe on His Son – ushers in so much more for us. Obviously our first question(s) tends to be either: ‘what’s in it for me’ or ‘what do I have to give up’. We typically start from the thinking that we are going to lose in this transaction. This undoubtedly stems from what we experience in the secular world. That’s not how God works. It’s comparable to looking through the window of a gigantic store and seeing all the wonderful (fill in the blank of what this looks like for you) available ‘things’ – peace, freedom, acceptance, healing, fulfillment, etc. Yes, we do give up fear, lack, loneliness, discord, disarray, etc. And this only begins our journey.
Why would anyone NOT accept? Yet, many don’t. But for those who do, there is a vast array of blessings waiting to be bestowed on those who believe on Jesus. Reread the parable of the Prodigal Son – it is the perfect example of who we were. But once we accept the salvation offered we shouldn’t just stop. Obviously we don’t return to the what we have been saved out of and we don’t pick up where we were before we were in darkness. It’s time for us to begin our journey. I believe that once we are saved then we begin an entirely new adventure, but one that includes the Lord being with us. In the Prodigal Son parable, a great feast was prepared and all were invited to partake. It’s up to us to realize that, as wonderful as salvation is, the Father has prepared so much more for us.
