People talk about the "steps" to salvation.  And I guess that is as good a way to describe it as any.  You are trying to get somewhere--to God--and are taking steps in that direction.  But really, it is all done for you.  Jesus did it.  The part you have to do is:

Recognize the condition you are in.  It isn't pretty.
Believe that God came to earth to die for your condition.
Repent.  Not just sorry, but ready to change.
Give Christ all rights to your body and soul.  Which is trust.
Know that Jesus rose from the dead.  And you will too.  His blood covers your sin.

There isn't anything you can actually 'do' but surrender your will to God.  He does the rest.

It is Memorial Day and it has been raining all day.  A steady downpour.  We desperately need the rain but it's gloomy and brings back memories of all the young men that I knew in the Marine Corps who died in service for their country.  They were so young.

Once, when I was in France, we took a train and then a cab to Normandy.  I did not realize that most of our young men who died while landing there on D-Day were buried on that spot.  It seemed like there were crosses for miles. All in a row, one after the other.   We were on the cliff looking down at the beach.  The German pillboxes are still on the cliff.  It was a shooting gallery.  I started weeping and couldn't stop.  One of the men in my church made that landing. (Jim Long)  I asked him once, "How did you survive?"  He answered, "By the grace of God.  You couldn't go back to the ship, so you kept running forward. "  And I thought of the poem written by John McCrae in World War I:  (In part…)

In Flanders field the poppies blow,   Between the crosses, row on row…We are the dead.  Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.  Loved and were loved and now we lie in Flanders field.

John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

And Ken is at rest in the fields at Arlington.