Salvation Is for Everyone

There was something about my co-worker Dani that intrigued me. She smiled often and she had fun at work. Sometimes, I felt like I barely got through the day. I often wondered why she was so happy. What made her so joyful? It wasn’t long before we started getting to know each other. From our time spent together during lunch, I knew she went to church, and I knew she was a follower of Jesus.

She invited me to church often, and every time, I turned her down. Once, I even scoffed and said, “Church is not for me.” Still, she persisted. I went to church off and on as a kid, but never really felt like I belonged there. To be honest, I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere. I felt so alone and didn’t have any real friends. I struggled with suicidal thoughts and believed that no one would care if I was suddenly not here anymore. I didn’t care about anything or anyone, including myself.

I was drawn to Dani’s joy, and deep down inside, part of me wanted that for myself. What I didn’t know at the time was that the source of her joy was Jesus. As I spent more time with Dani and her family, I began to see what I couldn’t see before. I began to see just how much I needed Jesus in my own life. He was the only one who could fill the need I had to belong and to be loved.

Romans 10:9-10 (NLT) reads: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

It wasn’t long before I found myself accepting Dani’s invitation to go to church. I was nervous walking through those doors for the first time. All of that melted away as I was greeted by people who genuinely looked like they were happy to see me. I learned that salvation was for anyone who wanted to receive it, and I decided that I wanted joy, and I wanted Jesus in my life. A few months after my first visit, I talked to the pastor about receiving Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. To say that Dani was excited about it was an understatement.

In the months that followed, I was baptized, and my mom and my brother started attending church too. Jesus changed my life. I laugh when I think about saying, “Church is not for me,” because, clearly, God had other plans. I never imagined being where I am at today, working for a Christian organization and serving the Lord. I am thankful every day for my once co-worker and friend of 22 years who decided to keep inviting me to church. She showed me who Jesus was before I even fully knew who He was.

Salvation is for anyone who wants to receive it. If you are reading this now and you’re thinking that you are too far away from God, I can tell you, in my own experience, you are never too far away from Him to come and receive the salvation and forgiveness only He can offer. Romans 10:13 says that “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”

If you feel alone or like you don’t belong, know that God sees you. He hears you when you pray. He knows what you need before you even speak it. He is closer than the air you breathe. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He knows everything about you, and nothing can change the fact that He loves you with an everlasting love. If you call upon His name today, you will be saved.

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.