By Natalie BennettFriday 3 Apr 2020EasterReading Time: 3 minutes
Easter. An opportunity for a new beginning. God has taken the initiative in offering us friendship, now and forever.
If you declare 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 profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)
Men and women are made by God and loved by God, but we want to go our own way, declaring our independence from God. We imagine independence means freedom, but true freedom is found in us becoming the people our Maker intended for us to be. We do this in relationship with Him.
Jesus is God in human form, showing us the sort of life we are meant to live. He died and, in doing so, took on himself the penalty for us going our own way. When he rose again, he showed us that death does not need to be our end, that evil does not have the last word.
We get the benefits of what Jesus did by trusting in him to get us into God’s family where we truly belong. We trust in his perfect goodness rather than our own imperfect goodness. In doing so, we get the help of his Holy Spirit to live his way of life. And, we share his everlasting life in the presence of God.
None of this means a trouble-free life — we’ve all witnessed that this year! — but it does mean we are intent on living the best sort of life, here and now. And, it means we can look forward to an unimaginably perfect life forever. There is more than this life.
In the Bible, in the book of Romans, it says: “If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
God has taken the initiative in offering us friendship now and forever. He invites us to respond to that offer. We can respond with a simple, sincere prayer — going something like this:
Dear Jesus,
I admit I go my own way independently of you. I want to live a new sort of life, centred on pleasing you above all. I trust you to forgive me for all that I’ve done wrong, and to help me think and say and do what is right in your sight. I place myself in your hands and ask that I am always conscious of your love and mercy, and always living it out so that others may come to know you as well.
Amen
Congratulations! To pray these words with a surrendered heart to Jesus is the beginning of the most important voyage you will ever embark on: the journey to follow Jesus.
Please let us know if you’ve just made this commitment to Jesus and prayed this prayer as we would love to support you in this new found forgiveness and freedom.
Some Resources to Help You
- Listen to REAL HOPE podcast
- Sign up for REAL HOPE sent to you for daily encouragement
- Connect with a local Church
- What to chat? Call for Prayer and Support from the Salt 106.5 Careline
- Request prayer from our dedicated Hope & Prayer team
- Request a FREE Bible (while available)
Go to Salt 106.5’s The Easter Story Collection
