God loves you very much and He wants you to live forever with Him in a beautiful place called Heaven.

Heaven is perfect! There are no bad things in Heaven. There is nothing to make you sad or lonely or afraid. Everything is just right!

Our world is not perfect. It is not perfect because of sin. Sin is doing something that God does not like.

In God's Book, the Bible, we read that everyone, including you and me, has sinned—we have done bad things that God does not like. Our sins separate us from God. God cannot let a person with sin in his heart come and live with Him. Sin would ruin a perfect Heaven.

Because we have sin in our hearts, we deserve to be separated from God forever. But there is good news! God still loves us! He does not want us to be separated from Him, so He made a way for our sins to be forgiven and washed away.

God sent His own Son, Jesus, to earth. Jesus died on a cross, and then came back to life again so the sins of everyone in the world could be forgiven. By His death, He made a bridge between God and us. That bridge is called salvation.

Just because Jesus died for the sins of the world doesn't mean that everyone is going to Heaven. God wants us to be there with Him. But just knowing about salvation is not enough. Each person must receive salvation for himself.

To receive salvation, you must do this:

Admit that you have sin in your heart and need God's help.

Ask God for His forgiveness. Tell Him that you are sorry for the bad things you have done.

Believe that Jesus died for your sins and that He is the only way for you to go to Heaven.

Turn away from sin. God promises in His Book that He will help you stop sinning and live a new, clean life.

Receive. When you invite Jesus into your heart and promise to obey Him, He promises to come into your heart. He gives you the gift of eternal life in His perfect Heaven!

How do you do this?

It is not hard. If you want to receive God's salvation, pray a prayer like this one from your heart.

Dear God, Thank You for loving me. I know that I have sinned, and I am very, very sorry! I know that my sins separate me from You, and I don't want to sin anymore. Please forgive me for everything I have done wrong. Help me to obey You and to please You for the rest of my life. Jesus, I invite You to come into my heart to be my very best friend. I choose to live for You instead of myself. Thank You for hearing my prayer and answering it. In Jesus name, Amen.

When you pray like this and mean it with all your heart, God promises to answer you. And God always keeps His promises! He will make you feel clean and happy and good inside.

Did you pray a prayer like this? If so, welcome to God's family!