What does it mean to accept Jesus?
Q: I hear preachers say that we need to accept Jesus, but I'm not sure I understand what that means. I'd like to be sure that I'm a Christian, but I don't know if I really am. -- Mrs. J.K.
A: I'm thankful you want to be sure that you are truly a Christian. After all, could anything be more important -- both for your life right now and for eternity? The Bible warns, "How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3).
Let me use a simple illustration to help you understand what it means to accept Jesus. Suppose someone came to your door and rang the bell. What would you do? One possibility, of course, would be to ignore it, telling yourself that you were too busy to be bothered. But the other possibility would be to go to the door and find out who it was and what they wanted. And if it were a friend, you'd probably take the next step; you'd invite them to come in.
The same is true with Jesus. He wants to come into our lives, to clean out the things that shouldn't be there and replace them with His love and presence. But what will we do? Like that visitor ringing our doorbell, we can ignore Him, or we can leave Him standing on the porch -- or we can invite Him to come into our hearts and lives.
And that's what I hope you will do -- and you can, by a simple prayer of faith. Why not invite Him into your life today? Jesus' words are for you: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me" (Revelation 3:20).
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(Send your queries to "My Answer," c/o Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit the Web site for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www.billygraham.org.)
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