I've had at least three close calls in the last few years (two bad auto wrecks, one heart attack) and my friends say it's a miracle I'm still alive. What is God trying to tell me, if anything? Or have I just been lucky? — M.W.

No, you haven't been just "lucky," nor was what happened to you a matter of chance. Instead, God has been watching over you and delivering you from death -- and He had a reason for doing so.

What was His reason? Surely it was to give you another opportunity to face your need of Him and then commit your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You aren't just a body and a mind; you also have a soul or spirit that God gave to you. When you die, your body and mind will come to an end, but your spirit will live on forever, either with God in heaven or in that place of absolute loneliness and despair the Bible calls hell.

Only one thing will keep us out of heaven, and that is our sin. But God has provided the way for us to be cleansed of our sins so we can enter heaven -- and that way is Jesus Christ. He was without sin, but all our sins were placed on Him, and He became the final and perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Don't gamble with your soul; don't turn your back on what God is trying to tell you. Instead, by a simple prayer of faith repent of your sins and ask Christ to come into your life, trusting Him alone for your eternal salvation. The Bible says that God "is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).