“Please don’t try to convert me.”

“I don’t need a religion.”

If religion were only good for teaching people to live good lives, then perhaps not everyone needs a religion. But what is a “good life”? More importantly, where is your life heading?

Faith in God is more than what we do in our everyday life of work and play. It is also more than some vague idea of meaning or value. Faith in God is finding the answer to our “ultimate concern.” It is about where we came from, why we live, and where we will end up. Without God, we are trapped in evil, sin, suffering, and death. But, through Jesus Christ, we can be saved from our afflictions and receive eternal life. This means that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“All religions are pretty much the same.”

You might say, “Different religions are simply different paths up the same mountain.” But what if one guide told you that the only way up the mountain was to crawl back downward, while another told you to jump off its side, while yet another told you to keep climbing up? They couldn’t all be right at the same time!

Different religious traditions often offer completely opposite answers to our problems. For example, one religion teaches about a heavenly afterlife, while another denies that heaven exists at all. Which is right? Given that our entire existence is at stake, we have to find the answer—not just a plausible answer, but the right answer.

“Can’t we agree to disagree?”

What if one day you decided that gravity was simply someone else’s idea of reality? If you then jumped off a cliff, would you not fall anymore?

Like gravity, religion isn’t just a matter of personal taste, where your opinion is as good as the next person’s. Because our religious belief determines our destiny, it must be firmly rooted only in the absolute truth.

God tells us, “Besides me there is no other God.” Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already.” Either this is true or this is a lie. We must find out which, because the future of our very existence is at stake.

“Why is God so narrow-minded?”

Imagine a person drowning. Now if someone threw this person a lifesaver, the only logical response would be to reach out and grab it. Would he or she ask instead, “Why can’t I be saved by my own methods?” or say, “I don’t want to hold on to the lifesaver, but you should still save me”?

Like the person drowning, we can’t save ourselves from the destiny of hell because we all have fallen away from God. But he has offered salvation to everyone without exception. He even came to this world and laid down his own life to save us. Far from being narrow-minded, God opens his arms to anyone who believes in him.

God has shown us the solution to our problem. If we then still refuse to accept him or insist on other ways, we’re actually the ones who are narrow-minded.

“How can I be sure that Jesus is the right way?”

Jesus claimed to be the only God and Savior. To see if he was telling the truth, we need to examine the facts.

Many prophecies were made about Jesus hundreds and even thousands of years before his birth. He fulfilled them all. His birth itself was a miracle. He lived a sinless life. He performed more miracles than could be recorded. His words have changed millions of lives for the better.

But there is one definitive proof to his claim to be God: his resurrection, the foundation of the Christian faith. Three days after dying on the cross, Jesus rose from the dead, just as he said he would, and appeared to many people. Even his critics could not disprove that fact. That's why countless Christians have risked and even sacrificed their lives to tell others that Jesus Christ is alive.

Today, we know that Jesus is in heaven, listening to us and helping us. He answers our prayers and pours out his Holy Spirit to us when we ask him. He continues to work miracles and change lives in ways beyond our imagination.

The Christian faith is not a blind faith. Rather, it is rooted in solid facts. If you are willing to weigh the evidence, you will be certain that Jesus really is the only God and Savior.

Conclusion

You might spend a lot of time searching for the right career or the right relationship, but what about the right way to live your life? What about your "ultimate concern,” the fate of your soul?

Jesus has told us the truth: we need his salvation. Our job is to seek him, look for evidence, and test him out, so that we can experience him. Because Jesus loves us, he will draw near to us. Try praying to him: "Help me to see who you are and how much I need your salvation. Let me experience you. Transform my life and give it meaning and a hope for eternal life.”

"Ask and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” – Jesus Christ