Fw: It takes preparation

Mark 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

"Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    'Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,'"

==========================================================================================

No one is ready for the gospel of Jesus Christ without first being prepared.  Among other things, that means that no one is automatically "saved" or able to inherit a place in Heaven.  There is a "before" in every life that leads to the acceptance and understanding of the good news of new life...spiritual awakening...redemption.  This is presented clearly as Jesus makes His entrance in ministry.  John the Baptist was sent to call people to preparation...and it started (as it still does start) with repentance...a recognition of our faults and our need for a Savior.  Jesus, also, showed that there was a 'before' for Him...a 'before' to the start of His ministry (not that He needed salvation) as He also went to John to be baptized.  For Jesus, the baptism of John marked a public recognition of His Father as the sole purpose for His life.  For us, repentance of the heart and baptism of the body marks a public recognition of the Son as the only hope for ours.

-

Acts 19:4 And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus."

-

Jesus would turn your "before" into "life ever after".

-

blessings,

Rob Smith

-------------------------------------------

"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."