Many of us can recall seeing first responders at work at the scene of an emergency, doing what they were trained to do to save lives. Unlike the bystanders, the first responders had critical information they relied on to maintain life. If we wonder about what will happen to us when our earthly lives are done, there’s some lifesaving information we need to know. Most people are unaware of the importance of accepting Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Savior; doing so will guarantee eternal life in heaven.

God loves us, and He wants us to be able to spend eternity with Him. The prevailing mindset the world goes by is to be as good as possible and hope for the best. To determine our final destination, we need more than simply what we can do on our own—we need Jesus. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

There’s more to life than what we see around us. What we do see is strife, chaos, and enough negativity to make us feel weary and old before our time. God wants us to know there’s an entire realm in the spirit that we can’t see; experiencing a rebirth into this realm redirects the course of our lives. “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Being born again is the most important thing we could ever do. Not only does it open heaven’s gates to us, it also radically changes our lives for the better, right now. “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). We can begin experiencing new lives right away, without having to wait until we get to heaven.

We can put behind us past regrets and any guilt or shame we may feel over mistakes we’ve made, because God wipes the slate clean. We’re brand new creations; what we did in our old lives no longer matters. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We can make a marvelous new beginning knowing that God has chosen to forget our failures and shortcomings.

This newness means that we don’t have to beat ourselves up for something we’ve done wrong. We can let it go and forgive ourselves because God has already forgiven us. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). The memory of past sins that prevented us from moving forward in life has lost its grip on us. If we’ve been feeling weighed down by our past misdeeds, accepting God’s forgiveness lifts our spirits.

The world is full of information, but not all of it leads us to the type of understanding God wants us to have. Reading our Bibles and meditating on what we read allows Him to instill in us what we need to know. “…And with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7). God’s Word provides lifesaving information that we need, but it’s up to us to decide whether or not to seek it out. What will your decision be?