In the 10^th chapter of the book of Luke, a young man came to Jesus and asked the question, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" As was his custom, Jesus answered him with a question, "What is written in the Law and how do you read it?" After the young man gave his answer ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind"...), Jesus said, "You have answered rightly. Do this and you will live."

I love the fact that Jesus is enlightened enough, and in touch with the Christ Spirit within Him so deeply, that He knows "salvation" is different for every person. It is not a one size fits all proposition. Sometimes Christians use the "magic Jesus prayer" as an excuse not to do the internal work in consciousness that is needed. It's not enough to just say, "Jesus, forgive me of my sins and be the Lord of my life." That's only the start. Then we must go about becoming LIKE Him.

I've seen so many people "give up" their mind after their initial salvation experience - which, for many is a feeling of conviction over things we've done wrong followed up by confession and a request for forgiveness - again...that's good; but it's only the start. The feeling of relief at being forgiven is so great that people stop thinking and are satisfied to let others indoctrinate them, to tell them what they should think. It's very dangerous to let someone else, anyone else, do your thinking for you, which is why Jesus always made people think for themselves.

When the young man asked the question, Jesus could have said, "Confess and believe on Me," but He didn't. He wanted to know what the man's perspective, experience and background was, because He knows the salvation experience is very personal and individual. And in the end, He was able to say, "This man has a sincere heart and if he can love God with all of his strength, soul and mind, then THAT is salvation for him."