Get to Know Jesus

God never intended life on earth to be full of problems and pain. He created everything perfect. However, long ago people chose not to follow God’s way. The Bible calls that sin, and sin causes lots of problems!

These problems affect all of us. “Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard” (Romans 3:23, NCV). We’ve all done things that go against what God knows is best.

But here’s the really bad news: “When you sin, the pay you get is death” (Romans 6:23, NIrV). Since everyone has sinned, that means we’re all going to die!

The Good News

The good news is that God loves us and doesn’t want us to die. But He knows we can’t become good on our own. That’s why Jesus came. “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus]. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIrV). Jesus was born as a baby and lived a perfect life on earth, always following God’s way. He took our “pay” for sin by dying on the cross. Then He came back to life and went back to heaven to live with God.

Jesus’ death makes it possible for us to live forever with God in a perfect world with no sin. “God gives you the gift of eternal life because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done” (Romans 6:23, NIrV). All you have to do is accept the gift!

You can do that by praying a prayer something like this: “God, I’m sorry for the wrong things I have done. I believe that Jesus died for my sins so I can have eternal life instead of death. Thank You for giving me this gift. I accept it, and I want to follow Your way of life from now on. Please help me to do that. Amen.”

Congratulations! You’ve just made a really smart choice. Why not tell someone about it? The Bible says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NCV).

Life—It’s Better With Jesus!

Accepting Jesus’ gift of eternal life changes your life. You have a new Friend who will always stick with you. “God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never abandon you’” (Hebrews 13:5, NCV). God has a great plan for your future and the best advice on how you can be happy and successful. Plus He has the power to help you do whatever He wants you to do!

Another neat thing about accepting Jesus is that it makes you part of God’s family, which includes all the people who believe in Jesus. Start spending time with those people—look for them at a church near you. They can help you learn more about God and His way of life.

You can spend time with God by praying (talking to Him) and reading the Bible, the Book that tells about Him.

Baptism is the way to make your commitment to Jesus official. In the Bible, baptism refers to putting a person completely underwater. It’s a symbol of having your sins washed away and starting a new life with Jesus. Talk to someone at your church about being baptized.

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Scriptures marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked NIrV are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER'S VERSION®. Copyright © 1996, 1998 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica.