The first step toward living a godly life is hearing the good news of the gospel. The good news is that the Word of God came to this earth and lived among us (John 1:14); was born of woman, like the rest of us, but of a virgin, unlike the rest of us,  and conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20); as the son of God, lived without sin His entire life (Hebrews 4:15) and died as the perfect sacrifice for mankind’s sins (1 Peter 1:19) on the cruel cross of Calvary; rose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:12) and then, after 40 more days on the earth during which He appeared to many, ascended to the Father in heaven (Acts 1:9-11) where He sits on David’s throne ruling over His kingdom, His church (Acts 2:30-36; Colossians 1:18).

It is through His shed blood that we have remission of our sins (Romans 8:25) which restores us into a right relationship with God (Ephesians 1:2). When our sins are remitted we are forgiven of them and redeemed (or bought back) to God. While He was on the earth Jesus, the name given to the son of God, taught us many things whereby we might live a righteous and God-fearing life ourselves and though we are not perfect we are forgiven through His sacrifice on the cross.

He also taught us what we must do to be saved so that we may be found to be worthy to live with God and His son eternally in heaven, instead of being condemned to live eternally in Hell, away from the presence of God and His son. Will you hear the good news of the gospel today?

When asked why He taught in parables Jesus said: “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them” (Mark 4:12). He then proceeded to explain to them the parable of the sower and said:”  And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” (Mark 4:20)

Read the parable of the sower and its interpretation in Mark 4 and you will realize that the word of God more often than not falls on deaf ears and people do not truly hear it and understand it so that it may bear fruit in their lives. To be considered good soil we must open our hearts and let the word shape our thoughts and our actions so that it will bear fruit in our lives.

Will you truly let the word of God into your heart and hear it as it cries out the need for all people everywhere to be saved from their sins and the judgment that awaits all on that fateful day when God shall judge the world through His son (Acts 17:31)? God raised His son from the dead and so someday  we will all be raised from the dead (unless we are living when He returns) to face the final judgment on how we lived while in this life.

That is the good news, will you be found to be good soil and hear it today? If so, may it bear much fruit in your life. This is the first step to getting right with God–hearing the gospel. Of course it takes more than an entire lifetime to learn the entire word of God perfectly. I don’t believe any man has ever done it.

The important thing about the first step in getting right with God is to let His word into your heart and mind so that it begins to transform your life. To really hear it, as Jesus teaches us to hear it.Paul said “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16) and that is what one must do as the first step in getting right with God.  I will discuss the next step in my next post.

May God bless you and keep you until next time.