The thought rolled through my head....

Over the past week or so literally thousands have checked out Nathan and Tricia's blog (now add Gwyneth Rose).  Not just thousands but thousands around the world.  So, I'm not a genius, please don't chime in all at once in agreement, but I came to a realization this morning.  

Many of the comments that have been posted are from Christians, those who have trusted Jesus as their Savior.  Many have passed this story onto friends, coworkers, family members, etc...

This means that out of the thousands that are watching this story unfold that there are some who have never trusted Jesus as their Savior, they haven't come to that point in their life where they made the decision to follow Christ.

I don't want anyone to miss out!  I also know that someone may have the question: "If God is a God of love and compassion how can he let this, and events like this, happen?"  That is a legitimate question that deserves an answer.

1.  God is  a God of love.  God sent his only son, Jesus Christ to die for you and for me because we are in need of salvation because honestly we all sin.  Ever tell a lie?  Me too.  That's sin.  That one sin keeps us from a relationship with God but he didn't leave us without a hope.  He sent his son for you.  I love my son Ty and I know I wouldn't let him die for anyone, but that is exactly what God did for you.  So I ask you, "Is God a loving God?", think about this a while before you answer.

2.  God didn't create robots.  God didn't make us mindless robots.  He created us with the ability to make decisions.  Man made a decision in the beginning of history to go against God and because of this choice the world is not the perfect world that God originally created.  We make choices.  What choice have you made?

3.  Some in this world have been turned off to God because of bad experiences in church or watching the "hypocrites" live their lives.  Maybe that is where you are at. 

 >First of all there are hypocrites in every walk of life.  Christians are humans and as we all know humans do stupid stuff.  Christians still have to make choices daily and unfortunately some make poor choices that have an impact on the world around them.  If we truly lived avoided anything to do with hypocrites we would have to go live in a cave and eventually we wouldn't even be able to live with ourselves.  We are all hypocrites.  Ever said one thing and done the opposite?

>Second, religion isn't what saves a person.  The Bible no where teaches that being "religious" will get you into heaven or even into a relationship with God.  It's not about religion it is about a relationship.  Don't count on church as your ticket into heaven you will be gravely disappointed.  Jesus didn't live on earth and die on the cross to start a religion.  He did this so you and I could know God and have life in heaven with him when life on earth is over.

4.  You can't be good enough to earn salvation.  Listen God loves you already, you don't have to earn it.  We humans have a hard time with this because in life we basically have to earn everything.  God's love isn't earned, it is a free gift.  All we have to do is to accept his gift by trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  The Bible teaches that we are saved by faith, not works.  I know that if at the end of my life my works were put on a scale the bad would more than likely tip the scale.  But I don't have to worry about that because unlike any other religion, or god out their, my Savior, Jesus Christ has wiped my scale clean by paying for my sin on the cross.  Only God offers forgiveness for all sins.

5.  What will you do with this gift?  I have never rejected a gift from anyone.  I'm not a smart man but if someone is giving me a gift I take it.  God is offering you a gift today that will radically change and impact your life.  I'm not saying life will be all of us running in slow motion through a field of flowers with cotton candy in our hands.  Life will have problems, we live in a messed up world.  But how in the world anyone can go through a storm in life (like Tricia, Nathan and their families are going through right now) without a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is hard for my mind to fathom.  

The Bible teaches us that salvation, a relationship with God, comes from simply believing in Jesus Christ as your personal savior, trusting him.  That's faith.  Faith like we have seen in the life of Tricia and Nate only comes through a relationship with God.  If you want to trust Jesus as your Savior, if you want to know God today, simply do so by putting your faith, trust, believe in Jesus right now.  You may want to do so by acknowledging your faith in Jesus by saying a simple prayer to God like this: "God today I trust Jesus as my savior."

That's all there is to starting a relationship with God.  It is so simple many can't grasp it because we expect to jump through hoops, do some religious ritual or something.

If you trusted Jesus as your Savior after reading this I would love to know about it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog.  It is the most important message I could share with you.  If you disagree I hope you will take the time to do a real investigation into the truth of Jesus Christ.

If you have been following Tricia's story and passing it along to friends I ask that you share this simple message with them.  This event is about more than you and I praying for this family, this event in their lives is about people coming to know God in a more personal way.