Decisions, decisions. We have to make them everyday of our lives. Some decisions are easy to make. The light is red; so you stop. Some decisions are tougher to make, but they really don't carry much life significance no matter which choice you make. Say, for example, your wife asks you to go to the store and buy her some Crest toothpaste. No big deal, right? Until you get to the store and you see there are at least fifty varieties of Crest toothpaste. Which to choose?

Did you know that Crest now has 13 different categories of toothpaste, each with subcategories. There in the aisle of the grocery store you are gridlocked without a clue which Crest to get. Aha, you pull out your lifesaver cell phone, call your wife, and she informs you that she wants the whitening kind. Saved by your cell. Only one problem now. Do I get the Vivid White, Whitening Plus Scope, Dual Action Whitening, Tartar Protection Whitening, Whitening Expressions, Rejuvenating Effects, Extra Whitening, or Multi-Care Whitening? You just pick one, and when you get home, you realize that this decision carried more significance than you thought.

Some decisions are very tough to make because no matter which you choose, the options aren't very attractive. For example, let's say you're a murderer on death row, and you are told you must choose one of three rooms. One is full of raging fires; the second is full of assassins with loaded guns; and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in three years. Which room would you choose? Actually this decision is easy. You pick the third room because lions that haven't eaten in three years are dead.

Seriously, all through life you make decisions. But some of those decisions certainly have more bearing on the direction of your life than others. Many of those major decisions come during the high school years. Will I attend college? Where will I attend college? Will I drink with my friends? Will I smoke weed? Who will I marry? What career will I choose? As you get older, the decisions don't get easier. Will I stay married? Will I relocate? Will I change careers? Will I put my mom in a nursing home?

You can be very successful making all of these decisions, but inside there's still something missing. Maybe you can relate to U-2's song that Michael sang a moment ago: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." Maybe that's because you haven't made the most important decision you will ever make.

If you were to list every single decision you've made in your life, none compares in significance to the decision we're going to talk about today. It is the most important decision you will ever make. And it is a decision that every single one of us must make. We don't have an option. We must choose. And what we choose carries with it eternal significance. Here is the question: What am I going to do with Jesus? Will I reject Him? Will I flirt around with Him? Will I ignore Him? Will I claim Him? Or will I give my life to Him? Until you give your life to Him, you will never find what you're looking for.

Some of you are flirting around with Jesus. You claim Him, especially when you get in a bind or if someone asks if you're a Christian. But then the way you live…it doesn't appear that you are a Christian. Some of you are exploring Christianity. You're not there yet; but you are seeking. Some of you have never stepped over the line of faith and made a commitment of your life to Jesus. And then some of you have been brought up in church, you're a religious person, but still you have not genuinely asked God to save you from your sins and to give you the gift of eternal life. You're just counting on your church upbringing to get you into heaven.

Today, in a very straightforward and simple way, I want to explain how you can make the most important decision you will ever make in your whole life. This decision will settle the issue of what happens after you die. No other decision comes close in importance as this one. I've chosen one verse that clarifies the issue for us and lets us know how we can begin a personal friendship with God that will last for an eternity.

The verse is found in the last book of the Bible. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). This verse explains what I want to communicate today in terms simple enough for even a child to understand. In its original context these words were written to churches whose members needed to return to Christ. But certainly the same words can be used to talk about the most important decision you will ever make.

Let me break the verse down into three simple parts. First of all, Jesus knocks. "I stand at the door and knock." What door? Where is it located? Is it the door to heaven? No, it is the door to your heart. Inside of your life is an imaginary door. Standing on the outside of the door is Jesus. The verse says He is knocking. Visualize that for a moment. Visualize Jesus standing outside a door and knocking. That door represents your heart.

So the question we need to deal with is this: Why is He knocking at your heart's door? Suppose I were to come to your house for a visit. I come to your front door and I start knocking. Guess why I am knocking. I know this is difficult, but don't let the deep data get in your way. I'm knocking because I want two things to happen. I want you to open the door, and I want you to invite me in.

Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks because He wants to come into your life. He wants to establish a meaningful relationship with you. The very reason God created you is that He wants to hang out with you. But your sinfulness prevents you from having that significant relationship with Him. You want to do your own thing. You want to be the boss of your life. The Bible calls this sin. To deal with this sin problem, God sacrificed His own Son on the cross. Jesus shed His blood to pay the penalty for your sins. Without the cross you cannot enjoy a meaningful relationship with God.

So Jesus stands at the door knocking. He's saying, "I love you. I died on the cross for you. I'm ready to forgive you. I'm ready to be your friend forever. Let me in." He's got a right to be standing at the door of your heart because He paid the price for your salvation. He's got a reason to be standing at the door of your heart because He so much wants to come into your life. He knows that He is exactly what you're looking for.

All this stuff about Jesus knocking is well and good. But it's meaningless unless you do something. So, first, Jesus knocks. Second, you open. He knocks at the door. You must open the door. "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door…." To hear His voice is not the same as you hear me talking audibly to you right now. I've never heard God speak audibly. I'm not saying He's incapable of doing that today. I just know He's never spoken to me audibly. However, there are times I feel a tug in my heart, and I know it's God. He may as well be talking audibly.

Some of you right now are feeling a tug inside you. That's God speaking. He hasn't given up on you. You hear His voice. You know that He wants you to open the door and invite Him into your life. The reason you're feeling that movement in your heart is that you know that what I'm telling you is God's truth. Deep inside you know that you need Jesus in your life. You know that no matter what means and methods you use to seek happiness and fulfillment, when it's all been said and done, none of these things is what you have been looking for. You know that only Jesus can satisfy your soul's longings. And you know that it is your sinfulness that keeps you from opening the door.

But to have a relationship with God, you must open the door and invite Him to come in. That's the only way. You must open the door with an attitude that recognizes your sinfulness and humbly invite Jesus to enter your heart's door so that He can begin the process of cleaning you up.

Again, if I'm at your front door knocking, you don't come to the door and say, "I can't let you in right now. Let me vacuum the floors, mop, clean the toilets, pay my bills, bathe the dog, repair the hole in the wall, and fix dinner first. Then I will let you in. That's the approach some use with Jesus. They feel like they must get their whole life cleaned up and then they will turn to Jesus. No, don't be like that. Just open the door, invite Jesus in, and then let Him do the cleaning up of your life.

"I don't know if he would come into my heart. I've messed up too royally. I've rejected Him for so long. Why would he ever want to have a relationship with me?" I understand where you're coming from. However, there is an important word in this verse that I don't want you to miss. It is the word anyone. "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door…." Do you know what the Greek word for anyone means? It means anyone. And that means you.

So, the most important decision you will ever make is the decision to open the door of your heart and invite Jesus to come into your life. No other decision you will ever make even comes close.

First, Jesus knocks. Second, you open the door. Third, Jesus comes in. This is a promise given by Jesus Himself. Do you really think He would lie about something as important as life after the grave? If you respond to His knock, and you open the door of your heart and say, "Jesus, would you like to come in?" do you really believe He would say, "No thanks. I prefer to stay out here and knock." Or, "No thanks, I'm trying to toughen up my knuckles for the next Ultimate Fighter contest." Nothing would thrill Jesus more than to hear you say, "Jesus, please come into my life."

Look at the verse again: "…I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Two things I want to highlight here. First, He said, "I will come in." Will suggests a promise, a commitment. He could have said, "I might come in" or, "There's a good chance I will come in." The point is very clear that the decision is yours. He's already done His part. Now He waits on you to do yours.

The other thing I want to say has to do with the final phrase: "I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." That phrase has fellowship and relationship written all over it. In other words, the only thing keeping you from a meaningful relationship with God's Son, the Savior of the world Jesus Christ, is one decision, the most important decision you will ever make—inviting Jesus into your life. Once you make that decision, you will have your own personal before and after story. "Before, I could never find what I was looking for. But I invited Jesus into my life. And now I have what I've always been looking for. I have a personal relationship with God's Son."

So what do you think? In my soul I believe there are some here this morning ready to make that decision. And I'm going to give you that opportunity in just a moment. For those of you who are not ready to make that decision, I don't know how clearer I can present God's plan for your life.

I want to remind you of the opening words of this verse: "Here I am. I stand at the door and knock." You may still be seeking. Jesus says, "Here I am. I'm knocking." Or you may simply be in a rebellious mode and want nothing to do with God. To you, Jesus says, "Here I am. I'm going to keep on knocking." Or you may be trying to live the best of both worlds—live ungodly during the week and think that by showing up for church on Sundays, God is thrilled with you. To you, Jesus says, "Here I am. I will keep on knocking until you invite me in."

At every juncture of your life, Christ is there, and He is knocking. And He will keep on knocking until you invite Him in or you die. And then it's too late. Aren't you ready today to let Him into your life so that you can have a meaningful relationship with Him?