Turning To Christ

 How to answer the Shepherd's call:

John 6:37-40 is a very important passage.  In it, Jesus says, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

What we see throughout the New Testament is that because of our deep seated rebelliousness, people don't, can't, and won't come to Christ on their own.  The seeds of rebelliousness run too deep.  But God the Father gives people to His Son.  The Son in turn calls those people to Himself and sends His Holy Spirit to draw their hearts to Him.  He has blatantly said that He will lose none that the Father gives Him.

What this means is that from our perspective, when we feel drawn to Christ, we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit is working on us, that Christ is calling us to Himself.  It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done.  He wants you to know Him.  He wants to save you.  His death for us, our salvation, is a priceless gift, but it is still a gift.  We must then respond to His offer of this gift.  We must accept it.  If He is calling you to Himself then the Father has already given you to Him.  You might not feel worthy, but this doesn't change what the Father has already done.  And you will eventually accept, or as one Christian song put it, "you will spend all your resistance on the one you can't resist."  Jesus will not lose those who are His.

All you have to do to accept His gift of salvation is to acknowledge the truth in your heart.  You must admit that you are rebellious toward God and blatantly chose to go your own way even when you knew better.  That's what it means to be a sinner.  Then you have to surrender to Christ and accept the price He paid for you on the cross, dying in your place.  What this means is that while others try to "earn" their way to heaven, doing things they themselves have come up with in the hopes that it will make them good enough, you are admitting that there is nothing you could do that is good enough and furthermore that Christ did all that needed to be done.  You are giving up on your deeds saving you, and you are betting it all on Christ and what He did on the cross.  As He is the One who will sit on the Great White Thrown of Judgment, this is a very sure bet.  Having determined this in your heart, then all that's left to do is speak, and tell Jesus all this, expressing your faith in Him.

But there is a cost.  He tells us in Luke 14 to be aware of it before we decide to follow Him.  In doing this you will be ending your rebellion towards Him and accepting Him as your God.  You will thus need to live for Him and not for yourself.  You will be His.  This may seem like a high price beforehand, but afterwards you will realize it's not a price at all, it's simply accepting what you were made for.  You were meant to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, to walk with Him, to love Him, and to accept Him as your Lord and Savior.