We live in a broken world, surrounded by broken lives, broken relationships, and broken systems. This brokenness is seen in the suffering, violence, poverty, pain, and death around us. Brokenness leads us to search for a way to make life work.

In contrast to this brokenness, we also see beauty, purpose, and evidence of God's perfect design around us. The Bible tells us that God originally planned a world that worked perfectly-where everything and everyone fit together in harmony. God made each of us with a purpose-to worship Him and walk with Him.

God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! (Genesis 1:31, The Message)

Life doesn't work when we ignore God and His original design for our lives. We selfishly insist on doing things our own way. The Bible calls this sin. We all sin and distort the original design. The consequence of our sin is separation from God-in this life and for all eternity.

Sin leads to brokenness. We see this all around us and in our own lives as well. When we realize life isn't working, we begin to look for a way out. We tend to go in many directions and do many different things to figure it out on our own. Brokenness leads to a realization of our need for something greater.

"Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." (Romans 6:23, The Message)

People try many things to get out of brokenness: religion - I will try to earn God's acceptance; success - if I become rich or famous then I can be happy; relationships - if marry the right person, then life will be good; drugs and alcohol - if I numb the pain I can pretend it’s not there.

The list is almost endless, but none of these things can get us out of brokenness, but instead, drive us deeper into it and multiply its effects. At this point we need a remedy-some good news. Because of His love, God didn't leave us in our brokenness. Jesus, God in human flesh, came to us and lived perfectly according to God's design. Jesus came to rescue us-to do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. He took our sin and shame to the cross, paying the penalty of our sin by His death. Jesus was then raised from the dead to provide the only way for us to be rescued and restored to a relationship with God.

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life." (John 3:16, The Message)

Simply hearing this good news isn't enough. We must admit our sinful brokenness and stop trusting in ourselves. We don't have the power to escape this brokenness on our own. We need to be rescued. We must ask God to forgive us, turning from sin to trust in Jesus. 

Believing, we receive new life through Jesus, and God turns our lives in a new direction. When God restores our relationship with Him, we begin to discover meaning and purpose in a broken world. Now we can pursue God's design in all areas of our lives. Even when we fail, we understand God's pathway to be restored-this same good news of Jesus. God's Spirit empowers us to recover His design and assures us of His presence in this life and for all eternity. Coming full circle is as simple as telling God you’re sorry for going your own way, believing that Jesus is the only way out and choosing to let him be the Leader of your life from this day forward.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer -- simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. You can talk to him right now wherever you are and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised. You might pray something like this:

"Lord Jesus, I'm broken and I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want."

If you just turned to Christ, would you let me know about it? I'd like to offer some next steps and also send you a Bible (my gift).

“Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” (Mark 1:14, The Message)