The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make

On Christmas Eve, around 7 p.m., I received a frantic phone call from my mother, she informed me that my grandmother had just died. My grandmother lived her 88 years on this earth apart from God, until about four months ago. My grandmother surrendered her life to Jesus Christ in her nursing home bed September of this year. When I received that phone call from my mother on Christmas Eve I was so surprised by the peace that we both had.

Where did that peace come from? Knowing that my grandmother was finally at peace and with her heavenly Father where she would spend eternity. I had comfort that one day we will be reunited and perhaps have a much better relationship than we did here on earth. Our relationship was strained, she was living for the world and I was trying to live for Christ. We were like “yin and yang” you could say–polar opposites. Most people in my family gave up on her coming to Christ and we all made peace that we most likely would not see her in eternity.

I had a sense that my grandmother was going to pass away sometime this year. I urged my mother one day in late August to go the nursing home where my grandmother resided and let me talk with her about eternity, Jesus and receiving His gift of salvation. We had many people praying for us that day in September when we finally got to see my grandmother. Jesus is so amazing. When I got to her room that day it was if God had already been speaking to her. She was ready to listen about “my God” finally, and she accepted Him into her heart readily in September.

She changed almost immediately; she went from a cold, harsh, mean and down-right abusive person, to a gentle, soft-spoken women. My mother could not get over her change. My mother never had a relationship with her mother, but from the month of September to December she got to restore their relationship before she passed. My mother said for the first time, “I feel like I have a mother.”

My grandmother was raised in an orphanage from infancy until the age of 15. No one adopted her from the orphanage for 15 years. As a result of her early abandonment and rejection, she lived with a poverty and orphan spirit her entire life and apart from God. She stayed angry and bitter at God her entire life (up until the last 4 months). She never understood that Jesus loved her and WANTED her!

The peace and comfort when we buried my grandmother the day before New Year’s Eve was not a peace that came from humans but our Father in heaven. My grandmother was in a lot of debt, she had no money for her funeral so we opted to dig her own grave as a way to save money. Her entire family was there on that cold Friday morning at the cemetery as we took turns shoveling the dirt for her burial. We each took turns saying something about my grandmother, and then we held hands and prayed, right there in the middle of that cemetery. I have never experienced something so beautiful. My grandmother may not have lived this life well, but God allowed her to end her life well. I have always hated cemeteries and funerals, mainly because so many of us have seen death as the final chapter, but when you know Christ, it is just the beginning!

Heaven is real, but so is hell. You have a choice where you get to spend eternity. How amazing is that? You might be reading this article today and have no idea where you will spend eternity when you die, or perhaps you never thought of dying before. I must tell you, one out of one will die. That means all of us. Search your heart and ask boldly, “God, will you show me who you are and what I need to do to spend life with you?”

When God shows you, come to Him just as you are. You don’t have to wait until you are all cleaned up or all your sins and weaknesses are gone. Jesus will transform you on His time and His way, just come to Him. Jesus loves you and wants to be with you now and forever.

You do not know the hour of your death, so don’t put off the most important decision that you will ever make–where you will spend eternity.

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Truly, truly, I say to you, WHOEVER hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement but has passed from death to life. John 5:24

If you are ready to accept and believe Jesus Christ’s free gift of salvation and eternal life, pray the following prayer:

“Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God who was born of the virgin Mary, and who died on the cross for all my sins. I believe you died and were resurrected on the third day and overcame death and the grave so that I can spend eternity with you. Jesus, come into my heart, I invite you in. Change me, cleanse me of all my sins. Forgive me Father of my sins and I confess them to you. I pray this prayer in faith, in your name Jesus.

Please let us know if you prayed this prayer and what next steps you can take on your new life with Christ. Congratulations.

What will you do now? Who will you tell about your salvation?