I love when we take our daughters on trips to the park, through the woods, or the beach nearby. Not to sound cheesy, but I love dad bonding with them and showing them amazing scenes of nature. There’s nothing like watching their eyes light up with excitement as they grip my hands tightly through the adventure. 

To be real, where it gets tough is when they push away from me and do their own thing. Though I desire them to enjoy and explore, I want them to do so under my guidance. The absolute worst would be if they ran off and couldn’t find their way back to me. I’m familiar with the dangers of being lost and separated from dad because that happened between us and our Heavenly Father. 

We ran away from God. 

Starting with Adam and Eve, we’ve all run out of our Heavenly Father’s arms and chose to do our own thing in sin (Romans 3:23). If we ever lied, disobeyed our parents, or broken any one of God’s ten commandments even just once; we pushed ourselves away from our Heavenly Father to venture off without direction. When that happens, it’s like losing the GPS of life He offered in His presence, causing us to slip and fall, get bitten by the poisons of life’s journey without God, and ultimately fall into ditches of sin. Because of that, our life becomes broken like a totaled car, needing to be salvaged and saved. The only problem is, our decision to sin separated us from God with no point of return. 

See, God can’t sin. In fact, He can’t stand sin as it repels Him. So, when we broke away from His arms and chose to be embraced by sin, all hope was lost to ever experience that fatherly bond and direction again that He meant for us to always have in Him and Trust in Him. 

What is Salvation? It’s a Way Back

When we ran away from God and chose to sin, there was no map or bridge to get us back into His arms of peace and fulfillment. We may look to our jobs, money, or even belongings in an attempt to fill a void that only God can. Without God, we will always feel like something is missing. On top of that, the journey of life can be hard. Without God’s direction, there are hills of success that can be overwhelming and overtake us, as well as mucky valleys of hard times that can keep us stuck. We should pray without ceasing and stand firm in our faith.

God loves us so much, but He can’t go against His perfect law against sin to come and get us. Instead, He made a way and gave His one and only son, Jesus, to offer us a way back to Him (1 Peter 2:24).

The truth is, the result of sin is death, but through the life of Jesus, there is hope. Believing in what Jesus did allows the sacrifice of His body to be the bridge back to our Heavenly Father. And because Jesus rose from the grave, He’s alive to be the map and guide in our life to the Heavenly Father. Through this effort of reckless love from God, He offers the free gift of salvation, the opportunity from Him to salvage our heart by accepting His son Jesus as Lord over our life (1 Peter 3:18). There’s nothing you and I did to deserve such a gift. There’s nothing we can ever do to repay Him. But the ball is in our court. 

We Have The Choice of Salvation.

The character of Jesus is not forceful. He’s not going to reach into the ditch of sin we slipped into and pull us out against our desire for Him. Though we are in need of Him to save us and restore our heart, God’s given us the choice (John 3:16). It’s our decision to receive the free gift of salvation in faith and begin walking with Jesus to experience the peace that surpasses understanding (John 14:27) in every corner of our life. God offers us the gift of Jesus, but we must unwrap and receive hope for our life. 

A Step to Receiving Salvation. 

If you want Jesus to save you and lead you back to our Heavenly Father, the Bible tells us that we must go to God. This means turning away from sin and believing in Jesus (Romans 10:9). It’s not that we are promising to be perfect. That’s impossible as we’re human. Moreover, it’s a decision of commitment and the surrender of our life to Jesus. If you want Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you can accept Him right now by going to Him in prayer. 

Let the words meaningfully come or your heart, genuinely desiring Jesus in your life, and believe in what He did for you and I on the cross. 

Say:

“Lord Jesus, 

I admit that I am sinner,

and I ask for your forgiveness.

I turn in repentance away from my sins. 

I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God 

and I am resting my eternal destiny 

on the sufficient work of Jesus Christ, 

when He died for me on the cross. 

I receive Him now in trust as my Lord, and personal savior

And I place everything in Jesus’ hands as leader of my life

Thank you for the free gift of salvation. 

In Jesus name. 

Amen”

Thank God for Salvation and Community

I remember praying and asking Jesus to come into my life. Deciding to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior was the best decision I’ve ever made. I’m so thankful for the wonderful church community around me as I grew my relationship with Christ. 

If you prayed that prayer today, please don’t hesitate to go to Manhood Journey’s contact page and send us a message, letting us know that you received Jesus to be your Lord and savior today.