Decisions we make can spell the difference between life and death, happiness or misery, wealth or poverty, contentment or turmoil. What we do with Jesus is the most important decision we'll ever make.
Matthew 27:22

How often do you get tired of making decisions? Procrastination is the consequence of our inability to make timely decisions about important matters. Two weeks ago our van was serviced at a garage.

I noticed a sign that said my timing belt should be changed no later that 120,000 km. My van has 145,000 km and so I have been running on 25,000km of grace. The service attendant said that when the timing belt is changed, the water pump and the generator and steering pump belts should also be changed.

The big question is, "How long should I wait to do this service work?" Some belts last for 200,000 km and longer. When the belt breaks it usually damages the engine and leaves you stranded 100 miles from the nearest garage. They might charge me double plus the towing charges, plus I'll have to stay in a motel. At that point I'll be kicking myself for procrastinating on my service decision. There are some decisions you should not delay making.

Every Easter we are faced with a question that hasn't gone away for 2,000 years. Its the question of a governor who had his back against the wall. He wanted to do what was right and also be popular with the people.

A mob was in the governor's face. At any moment it could break into a full fledged riot. In desperation Pilate asked the following immortal question. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" (Matthew 27:22 NIV)

Jesus was like a hot potato in Pilate's hands. With my car servicing question I have the luxury of procrastination. Pilate was forced to make a decision about Jesus that very day.

Some historical background will help you appreciate Pilate's dilemma. Palestine was a Roman colony in which Pilate collected taxes and maintained law and order. A riot would look bad on his resume.

Three years before this event Jesus of Nazareth began travelling through the land teaching the people about the Kingdom of God. He healed the lepers gave sight to blind, made the lame walk, fed the multitudes and even raised the dead.
He incurred the wrath of the religious leaders by castigating them for their hypocrisy and onerous control of the people. For claiming that he was their long promised Messiah they charged Jesus with blasphemy and said that he deserved to die.

Question. How do you execute someone who is popular with the masses because of His wisdom, care and mighty miracles? How Jesus was betrayed by Judas is part of the Easter story. Judas, a member of Jesus' inner circle told the Jewish leaders where they could arrest Jesus in the dead of night.

Following His arrest, Jesus was tried and condemned by the religious leaders while Jerusalem slept. However, the Jews could not carry out the death sentence. That had to be done by Pilate the Roman governor.

Thus Jesus is brought before Pilate who finds Jesus innocent. The Jewish leaders quickly gathered a boisterous rent-a-crowd to demonstrate before Pilate demanding the death penalty for Jesus. Pilate thought he could get off the hook by offering to release Barabas or Jesus.

Every year as a gesture of goodwill Pilate released a political prisoner. Barabas was a vicious criminal who murdered someone while committing a robbery. To Pilate's surprise and consternation the rent-a-crowd shouted, "Give us Barabbas."

That's what evoked Pilate's whimpering cry, "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" (Matthew 27:22 NIV) Nearly every time we view a Christian ministry on T.V. we consciously or unconsciously make a decision about Jesus Christ. Every time we saw those short Power to Change Christian testimonials in the newspaper, on the radio and T.V. we made a decision about Jesus Christ.

Some people made a decision to get more information about Jesus. Others made a decision to continue to ignore Jesus. They decided that Jesus Christ has no bearing on their lives today.

There was a day when Chris, Bruce and Harvey all realized that life consisted in more than eating, drinking, working, playing and sleeping. They acknowledged the spiritual dimension of their lives. There was something within them that longed to make a personal connection with God.

The day came when they discovered that Jesus Christ was sent into this world to show us what God is like. Their search for God led them to four principles of Biblical spirituality which they considered and made a decision to accept.

They considered these principles and then made the decision to receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. Baptism is God's way for us to declare to our family and friends our faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.

Principle One: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. God created and loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him. Jesus said,"For God so loved the world that he his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 ). Jesus came so that each of us could know and understand God in a personal way. Jesus alone can bring meaning and purpose to life.

Principle Two: All of us are sinful and separated from God. Therefore we cannot know and experience God's love and plan for our life.  Why do we need Jesus?  The Bible says, "...all fall short of God's glorious standard" (Romans 3: 23b). Though God intended for us to have a relationship with Him, we naturally want to do things our own way. By nature we tend to be stubborn, selfish, and frequently unable to follow through on our promises. Try as we might, we just keep stumbling.

Deep down, our attitude may be one of active rebellion or passive indifference to God. It's all evidence of what the Bible calls sin—an old archery term which literally means "missing the mark."

The Bible says the result of sin in our lives is death—spiritual separation from God (Romans 6:23 ). Although we may try to reach God through our own effort, we inevitably fail. We just can't ever be good enough.  This diagram shows the great gap that exists   between us and God. The arrows illustrate that we are always trying to reach God and find a meaningful life through our own human efforts. We may try to do good things or adopt a new guiding philosophy—but we inevitably fail.

Principle Three: Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin. Through Him we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life.   Jesus Christ is God's solution to the problem of human imperfection and evil.  Because of Jesus' death on the cross, we don't have to be separated from God any longer.  Jesus paid the price for our sin and in so doing, bridged the gap between us and God.  Instead of trying harder to reach God, we simply need to accept Jesus and his sacrifice as the one way to God.

"l am the way, the truth and the life," Jesus said. "No one can come to the Father except through me" (John '4:6). He also said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish" (John 11:25 ,26).

When Jesus rose from the dead (a Corinthians 15:3-6). He proved beyond doubt that he can rightfully promise and deliver to eternal life. Having knowledge about God's plans and purposes isn't enough. We need to consciously accept Jesus Christ as the payment for our sin and welcome Him into our life.

Principle Four: We must individually accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our life. The Bible says,"But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12 ).

We accept Jesus by faith. The Bible says, "God saved you by his special favour when you believed. And you can't take credit for this, it is a gift from God Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it" (Ephesians 2:8 ,9).

Accepting Jesus means first believing that Jesus is who he claimed to be, then inviting him to take the control of our lives and make us into new people (John 3:1-8 ).  Jesus said, "I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20 ). How will you respond to God's invitation?  What will you do with the claims of Jesus Christ?

Letting God change you into the person He created you to be is the most significant decision you can ever make.  It's not enough to just agree intellectually that Jesus is the son of God and that he died on the cross for our sins, we need to make a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.

We make that commitment when we turn to God, say we're sorry for our past sin, trust him to come into our life and ask him to make us into the people he wants us to be.  It's about faith. And it's an act of your will.  If you're ready to take that step, a talk with God is all it takes.

Many people have received Jesus Christ into their lives by saying the following prayer. 'Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for paying the penalty for my sin so that I could be right before God. You are the only one who can give me the power to change and save me from an eternity apart from God. I invite you to be the Lord of my life. Thank you for forgiving me and for the gift of eternal life with God. Take control of my life. Make me the person you created me to be."

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised. As amazing as it sounds, Jesus promised that if you accept him you will live forever in a place God has prepared for you. If you prayed the prayer above and invited Jesus into your life, you've become a Christian—which means simply,"Christ in one."

The next step God wants you to take is to publicly fly your flag for Jesus in Believer's Water Baptism. Ask for a copy of the study booklet, "A Study of Christian Water Baptism." Then book a date to honour Jesus in water baptism.