Assurance of salvation
Joel 2:32a “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Who is your “lifeline”? Who is your “go-to” person when you need counsel, advice or consoling?
Very likely as you pondered your answer to those questions you were thinking of a human being or two. But do we have to limit ourselves to a human being to get help or advice?
Please take a look at our Bible verse for this week and reconsider your answer to the questions we are pondering.
Why is it that when we think about getting help or advice we so often fail to think about or even look to God? We believe and talk about how God is so powerful that he can move a mountain, calm a storm or raise a person from the dead, but when it comes to the everyday problems and challenges of our lives, we seem to forget about or lock out God.
Today is Pentecost, the event 50 days after the first Easter when God kept his promise to his disciples that he would give them the Holy Spirit to carry on his work after he was gone (If you want read all about the event, read Acts 2 in your Bible). So often people get so consumed with the outward events of the first Pentecost (seeming tongues of fire on people’s heads, the sound of a strong wind and people speaking in languages which they had not previously spoken) that they forget the main thing was that the Holy Spirit was being given.
Think for a moment of how, still today, God gives you his Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage you. Every time you read his Word, the Bible, the Spirit is working to strengthen your faith, to assure you that God has everything in control. How often do you think about your Baptism as an assurance that you are a child of God and your sins are all forgiven? Every time you have the opportunity to receive the Lord’s Supper you are further assured that all your sins are forgiven and that God is strengthening you in your faith.
By now you’ve likely figured out that God has placed all around you opportunities for you to reach out to him for help and reminders that he loves you and cares for you. The devil is doing his absolute best work to have us not see those reminders and lose sight of God and his love and care for us. That is one of the purposes of these weekly Bible passages and devotions to keep that love and care of God in front of you.
There is one more very important point we need to remember from our verse for this week – “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord”. God doesn’t just hand out his love and care to everyone. It is one of the many blessings which comes to those who know and believe in Jesus as their Savior.
Very likely you know people, perhaps even those who are very close to you, who could use the love and assurance which Jesus gives. What a great way to show your love and concern for them by sharing with them the one individual who can show them perfect love and concern!