Welcome to Day Six

Read Mark 10 & 11

Well done! This is your Last Day…

Eternal Life

How do you get to Heaven? In Mark 10:17, a young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus doesn’t answer straight away. Before we find that answer, Jesus wants us to clear up some of our wrong beliefs as it is important so we can start growing spiritually.

Inheritance

No one is good enough except God! That is quite a statement. We tend to split the world between good and bad people. However the Bible says that all have sinned (Rom 3 v 23). The only way to eternal life is through righteousness.

Jesus and a young man are talking about the Ten Commandments, and it is evident this guy thought he was a good person. Maybe you can relate; you genuinely think that you’re a good person. However, Jesus deliberately doesn’t mention any commandments about loving God.

Why would He skip those? Remember that for Jesus, this conversation is more than a debate or a Q&A, as in vs 21, “Jesus looked at him and loved him”. Jesus tells this guy he only lacks one thing to get to Heaven, which sounds quite harsh! And before you think this is about money, look at his last comment, again — “Follow me”.

The thing is, there is only one way to inherit eternal life — By following Jesus! Romans 3:20 says, “No one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law”. Good deeds are not enough. Only Jesus makes us right with God when we follow Him by faith.

“That which cannot be achieved by performance cannot be lost by performance. Salvation has nothing to do with our own worth or merit. It has everything to do with what someone—Jesus—did for us. “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).”
— Michael S. Heiser, What Does God Want?

Your Response

Well done, you are almost at the end of this devotional. Maybe you began this journey because of curiosity or wanted to know about Jesus! We trust you encountered Jesus in a real and personal way through this short journey. So what is next?

The wonderful thing about Jesus is that you will always learn something new about Him. Your journey has only begun. It started with two words, “Follow me”. You have seen how Jesus interacted with people, healed the sick, calmed storms, forgave sinners and seemed to restore something in those lives He touched. Maybe you had a glimpse that you are indeed loved by Jesus.

Remember, you don’t ever need to earn His love and never will.

By accepting His invitation to follow Him, you are accepting and choosing to receive His love. Jesus never expected you to pay for your sin.

Reflections

Pause and reflect over these next questions.

  • Do you believe that Jesus’ invitation and these facts about the gospel are for you?

  • In John 6:37, Jesus adds a promise to His invitation, “All who come to me, I will embrace and never turn them away”. Can you accept that He includes you in this promise?

  • Every person is required to respond to the gospel for themselves. No one can do it for you. If you believe and want to receive His forgiveness, then pray the following prayer out loud*.

  • Repeat the following prayer out loud

    “Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You died for my sins; You were buried, and You rose again on the third day. I repent of my sins and come to You for mercy and forgiveness. By faith in Your Promise, I receive You personally as my Saviour, and I confess You as my Lord. I ask You to come into my heart, give me eternal life and make me a child of God.  Amen!”

    Congratulations, and welcome to the family of God. You are now born again with eternal life and are adopted into God’s family. You do need to do one important thing: go and tell someone what just happened to you!

    Just like when a baby is born, you will have some spiritual needs to fill. These are breathing (prayer), nourishment (God’s Word), speaking (witnessing), and family (belonging)to grow spiritually.

    To find out more, click here.