This may not be a terribly
earthshaking thought, but God is really good. I don't really know
how long I've been saved, it might have been on that September day
when I was just a child and my older brother told me about Jesus, it
might have been sometime since then as I moved through more mature
experiences and teachings. I don't really know, and I honestly don't
really care. I think many of us Christians get too hung up on 'when'
specifically we get saved, sometimes it's not that easy to pin down.
All I really know, is that I AM saved. I have been pulled by the
Spirit, bought by the Son, and adopted by the Father. I don't trust
my emotions, why would I? They tell me constantly that God couldn't
possibly have saved me. “You wouldn't be sinning if you were
saved.” The annoying little voices tell me. “Your thoughts would
be purer,” or “Your deeds would be more righteous,” they say.
Sometimes it's a struggle but in the end it all comes down to the
promises of God.
“For the Scripture says,
“whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is
no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:11-13)
There are many others, but
essentially the idea is that you could not save yourself, you cannot
“un-save” yourself, which makes sense. God knows all of history
already, every detail. Why would He bother “saving” you, knowing
you would only bork it up 5 years later? He knew when you asked for
forgiveness when you were ten that you would steal a pack of gum when
you were twelve or that you'd give in to temptation with your
boyfriend/girlfriend when you were nineteen. Once we are saved, we
ask for forgiveness, not because we need to fear that He won't
forgive us, but because we are repenting of the sin we know to be
wrong. We are recognizing that our sin is a betrayal, not just to
the ones we may harm on earth but to the God who died for us and set
us free. When God forgives us He forgive everything we will ever do,
the sacrifice is more than sufficient for the cause. By the way,
before anyone says anything, this obviously this doesn't give us
license to sin, Paul covered this in his letter to the Romans.
Anyway, back to my initial
point, God is good. We have all sinned and by some miracle of grace
we find ourselves freed from the just punishment of those crimes.
Yet God doesn't stop there, oh no! We have access to a peace that
passes all understanding, a peace amidst trial and frustration that
literally MAKES NO EARTHLY SENSE. I say earthly sense because it
makes a great deal of spiritual sense. Ultimately we have God on our
side, and the promise of eternal peace and communion with Him for
eternity...what was I worried about again? My job? My money? Any
of a number of things that happen on this dirty little ball during
the 100 years, at most, that I'm alive? The problem is very much
akin to listening to a badly mixed song. Imagine this: as the song
plays, if you listen carefully there's a beautiful cello part in the
background, softly and smoothly carrying you to heights of beauty.
Unfortunately the sound technician thought some other instrument,
lets say a... clarinet for example, should have it's volume cranked
up really high. So try as you may that friggin clarinet keeps taking
all your attention, drowning out the gorgeous cello. (I don't hate
clarinets btw, just an illustration.) In our daily lives we have all
these “problems” and “issues” that drown out the simple yet
wonderful truth that God is quite literally standing right next to
you with His arm around your shoulder, and that you'll one day join
Him for an eternity of joy.
I still don't understand a
lot of things, why God chose those He chose, how exactly the
inspiration of the scriptures worked, and many others, but it's good
to remind myself that God is there. That He cares for His children
and will carry us through our hardships. Take some time today and
thank Him for being there for/with you. God Bless.
