Many believe they can rescue themselves in this world by their own goodness. None of us will make it that way.
Maybe you have believed the lie that eternal life is a reward for your performance, but eternal life is not a reward, it's a rescue. If we could have made it on our own, God's Son would have never given His life.
The Word of God in Matthew 14, beginning with verse 27, describes an incident from the life of Jesus and His disciples. More importantly, it's also a picture of how a person begins a relationship with God. There is a major surprise in this for many of us. Here's what it says. Jesus knows that the disciples are out in a terrible storm, but He has not been with them. He comes walking on the water toward them and He says, "Take courage, it is I, and don't be afraid." "Lord if it is You," Peter replied, "Tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind he was afraid, and he was beginning to sink, and he cried out "Lord, save me!" And immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. "You of little faith," He said, "Why did you doubt?"
Peter was drowning, dying, and unable to rescue himself. He gave this simple, but powerful prayer, "Lord, save me." It might be time for you to finally say that to Jesus.
We like to think that we will be able to somehow get to heaven ourselves. After all, we believe in God, we go to His meetings, we give to His causes, we try to keep His commandments, and we even work in His work.
God gives us a sobering description of our true spiritual condition in Ephesians 3:1. He says, "You are dead in your sins." Sin has cut us off from God. It's left us powerless to erase the sin that keeps us from eternal life, but there's hope. Ephesians 2:8 says, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith. This is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." We are saved by the rescuer God sent for us - His Son, Jesus.
The only possibility we have for being saved is to put all our trust in the rescuer, Jesus Christ. Tragically, many good people are in for a terrible and eternal shock. They weren't good enough for a perfect God. No one is. They will drown unnecessarily with the nail-scarred hand of Jesus reaching out to them, of which they never grab hold.
If you're not sure your sins are forgiven and you are ready to belong to Jesus so that you can be sure you are going to heaven, this is the day. Know what to do when the rescuer comes for you and realize that you can't save yourself. Grab the rescuer - He's your only hope.