The other morning, Joyce Meyer was talking about how people say “being a Christian is so hard.” She replies with “Adultery, having hangovers, being filled with anger, bitterness, jealousy, hatred and doing drugs — that is what is hard.” Having lived on this side of life as well, I agree with her.
Choosing God is not hard. God tells us in Deut. 30:19, to choose life over death. Sin leads to death.
I am so thankful for one of the guys I used to work with in a pharmacy. He embarrassed me one day by making the comment that life isn’t about being drunk every day. This was an eye- opener for me. That moment of embarrassment led to a much better life. A life full of life, full of God’s joy and His blessings.
What is hard is not having a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. What is hard is going through a trial on your own because you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Revelation tells us that we overcome by the word of our testimony. A pastor once said “I can only give you my testimony what is true for me and that is something no one can deny or take away.”

“…and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
— Rev. 12:11

How do we love our lives to the death? By living a life without Jesus and living a life full of sin, which can only lead to eternal death.
We make a choice to accept Him as our Savior and receive His forgiveness and to receive the grace that He died on the cross to give us. We don’t work for it. Grace is a gift that we can choose to accept or not.
This tells us that we must be of an age of accountability, that we must be able to make a conscious decision to choose for ourselves. This is not a relationship that we can just be baptized into. It is a choice.
A personal relationship with Jesus is not about sitting on a church pew every Sunday. It is not about just doing good for others, or giving or money where we think it is best needed. While those things are what Christians should strive to do, they do not make us Christians.
A Christian is someone who makes a decision to ask Jesus into their life and turn to Him for His free gift of grace and forgiveness. Our hearts will change from wanting to sin, to wanting to live by His word and desire to know Him more.
I can only tell you what He has done for me. When I was younger, I walked an aisle and felt emotions stirring, but I didn’t choose life. I didn’t choose to quit sinning. I was moved by emotions and feelings, not by the Spirit. You will know when you give your life to Him because you will choose life over sin and death. I hope someone is blessed by this today. How can we know more about this wonderful Savior?
Stay in his word!

Visit Neta Monroe’s blog at www.godstidbitstome.blogspot.com