Once in a lifetime, a deal comes along that is so sweet that it can make those who know how to close on it truly rich. It’s fair that such a deal is presented to everyone, but whether they can close on this deal depends on how they respond. Here are three tips to help you close on the deal of a lifetime.
Tip 1: Go through life with your eyes and ears open.
We need to go through life with our eyes and ears open, so that when the greatest of all deals is presented to us, we will recognize its value and worth. The greatest of all deals is the offer of eternal life from God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, which comes to undeserving sinners. No other transaction even comes close to it. He takes those who deserve death and hell for the things they have done, and in love and mercy He washes away their sins and makes them fit for heaven. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). Through faith in Christ, sinners can receive the incredible gift of eternal life. What an offer! It is an offer you can’t afford to pass by!
It’s quite possible to go through life with eyes and ears closed, so that a person sees neither the frightful reality of sin nor God’s tremendous love. The Lord Jesus said, “This people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matthew 13:1515For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Matthew 13:15)). Don’t go through life with your eyes closed! Open them up wide so that you may see the wonders of God’s love and be converted to faith in Christ.
Tip 2: Be honest.
In our dealings with God, you can absolutely depend on His “honesty.” He says what He means and means what He says. Has He made a promise? Then He will surely keep it. “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:8989LAMED. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. (Psalm 119:89)). Not once in the history of the universe has He failed to keep a promise He has made. Nor will He ever fail to keep one in the future. You can depend on it.
He wants us to be honest too. How quick we are to pretend to have qualities we don’t really possess. We do this to impress others. Don’t pretend to have a righteousness you don’t really have. He knows all about you. He says that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)). We might deceive other men and women who are as gullible and dishonest as ourselves, but we will never deceive God.
Oh, have an honest heart! Leave those sins with Jesus. His blood can wash them away and make you whiter than snow. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)).
Tip 3: Have confidence that the other party will keep His word.
In order to close the greatest of deals, it is necessary to have faith and to put that faith in the right person. The Lord Jesus is the One you want to trust in, because He was both God and man in the same person. He lived a perfect life on earth, and then yielded up His life as an atonement for sinners. The Bible states clearly that all those who believe in Christ, no matter their past, will be saved. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:2525Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (John 11:25)).
Faith is a simple trust that what another person says is true. Those who believe in Christ have confidence that He will do all that He says, and that includes giving the gift of eternal life to those who believe.
People on earth may have all sorts of life: animal life, intellectual life, night life; they might be the life of a party, or by eating right and exercising they may strive to live a healthy life. But all these other types of life will vanish away and disappear in the darkness of a lost eternity if the person does not have eternal life through the Lord Jesus. When a person dies apart from Christ, they will be fully conscious and capable of suffering. The worst suffering of hell is that souls will fully know that “God is love” (1 John 4:88He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (1 John 4:8)), but will be completely cut off from Him. What a dismal, bleak, empty future awaits those who never come to Christ. The sufferings of hell will be so intense that souls will continually grind and gnash their teeth in pain. “And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:5050And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:50)).
The time to get right with God is in this life before it is forever too late. Oh, that as a sinner you might place your faith in the risen Saviour who alone can save the lost and give you eternal life!
Following the above advice will help you successfully close on the deal of a lifetime which will make you rich with eternal life. Then, for all eternity, you may glory in the presence of Him who loved you and gave His life to save you. You will be able to glory in these riches while those who have never closed this deal will suffer in hell.
Don’t let the Saviour pass you by, but call out to Him who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by Me” (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)). No one ever loved you like He does.
Find out more about the destruction caused by sin and how to escape from it in The Hurtful Lie.