Are you missing something? Do you have life's most important ingredient?
The Bible teaches that God loves us human beings, and that He wants us to live life to the fullest, experiencing such things as God's love, happiness, peace, purpose in life, and fulfillment. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."(John 10:10) Having a personal relationship with God is the most important ingredient in life, because life's greatest gifts come only from Him. God is not "out to spoil our fun", as many believe. He wants us to know life at its best--life that lasts forever!
Not wanting to make us robots, God gave man a will and the freedom of choice. But given the choice of either doing things God's way (which would lead to a fulfilled life) or disobeying and centering our lives around ourselves, all of us have chosen to go our own way. This "me first" attitude of rebellion or indifference towards God is what the Bible calls "sin." The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."(Romans 3:23) So this spiritual problem is something which affects ALL of us at the very core of our being. The result is that we miss out on all the fantastic benefits which God wants to give us, because we shut Him out of our lives. Actually, it is much worst than that. Sin leads to physical death and spiritual death, because our sin cuts us off from God who is the only source of life! The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death."(Romans 6:23) The end result of our rebellion or indifference towards God is that we die and we miss out on life's most important ingredient--the life giving power of God! If this problem is not solved, so that God becomes a part of our lives, we will be separated from God forever, and we will experience eternal spiritual death--we will miss out on heaven!
Many people have recognized this problem, and they naturally try to do something to bring the missing ingredient of God back into their lives. We attempt to bridge this gap of separation between us and God in many ways. Some people try to pay for their sin by taking part in religious rituals. Others pretend there is no problem. Some ignore God and hope that He does not really exist. Still others try to make themselves "gods," so that they do not have to deal with the one true God. The fact is that we do have a problem, and we can not rescue ourselves. In the same way in which no human being can swim all the way from California to Hawaii, no human being can pay for his own sin or earn his way into heaven. But in spite of our sin, God still loves us and desires that we know Him personally. So He Himself paid the penalty for our rebellion. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself the penalty of our sin, so that we could be forgiven. It is important to see that Christ is both fully man and fully God. As a human being, like us, He could die in our place, as our substitute. Yet we needed someone who is more than just an ordinary man to come to our rescue. He had to be free of the sin that ruins our lives, so that He could pay for our sin. Since Jesus Christ is also fully God He is sinless, so only He could make full payment for all of our sin. The Bible describes it this way, "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."(1 Peter 3:18) Christ is the perfect bridge to rescue us from our sin and to restore us to a personal relationship with God.
But while Christ has made it possible for us to cross the bridge to intimate friendship with God, we are not automatically there. We need to take action and decide for ourselves to use the bridge which Christ has provided. The way in which we do this is by putting our full trust in what He has done for us. In order for a person to cross a bridge, he must first recognize that he needs to use the bridge. Then he steps out in faith, believing that the bridge will hold him up and get him to the other side. That is how we must respond to Christ as well. In prayer we must acknowledge to God that we need the bridge He has provided. We do this by acknowledging our sinfulness--our indifference or rebellion towards God. That means that we recognize that we are separated from God, and we understand why that is so. Then we make the decision to rely on Christ's death alone to pay for all of our sin--we step out onto the bridge. Once we decide to trust in what Jesus has done for us God guarantees that we will get to the other side. Jesus says, "Whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."(John 5:24) When we place our complete trust in what Jesus has done for us we have life's most important ingredient--God and the life He brings!
If this makes sense to you, why not make that decision to trust in Jesus right now! You can do so just by talking to God. Here is an example of what you might want to say to Him:
"Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner and that I need Your forgiveness. I believe You love me and showed Your love by sending Your Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins. I trust in this alone to put me in a right relationship with You. I ask You to take over my life and live within me forever. Thank you. Amen."