What must I do to be saved?

How can I become a follower of Jesus?

In John 3:16, perhaps the best-known scripture in the entire Bible, Jesus himself tells us, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Believeth, believe! What a glorious offer from God that all who simply believe in/on His Son, Jesus Christ, should be saved and receive everlasting life.

But is that it? Is that truly all we need to do?

"What must I do to be saved?" The most important question a person can ever ask, and yet, for most of us, a question for which, we are far too ready and willing to accept the simplest of responses and broadest of paths.

But who among us hasn't heard the old sayings: "If it's too good to be true, then it probably is" or, "There's no such thing as a free lunch"? These sayings are rooted in our instinctive disbelief in, "something for nothing," wherein someone is misled into believing they are getting something for nothing—getting what they want without doing or giving anything in return. Whereas, our life experience teaches us that, "something for nothing," is an unrealistic expectation and that any situation that seems to offer us "something for nothing," demands closer examination.

So, while we all want to believe that our salvation and everlasting life are free gifts from God, with nothing expected in return, it behooves us to be painfully aware that this is, after all, our eternal destiny we are talking about and be willing to set aside our dreams for a few moments and examine reality.