By Sheryl Boldt
Do you ever wonder if God grows weary with your constant mess-ups?
Perhaps you’re so discouraged because of a recent relapse into sinful behavior that you’ve avoided reading your Bible and praying.
A few of you may have even resisted asking Jesus into your heart because you think you’re not good enough.
If so, I can’t wait to share this week’s verse – a wonderful verse for this Easter season: “May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love” (Ephesians 3:17 AMPC).
Try to imagine what it would be like to be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love by the One Who loves you, even when you’re at your worst. I can’t think of anything more appealing than being secure, especially when I don’t love myself or when I’m devastated due to the poor choices I’ve made. I can’t think of a better way to obtain ultimate security than to invite Jesus into my mess.
Inviting Jesus to make His home in our heart (life) happens when we understand that we’ve sinned and can’t perform enough good deeds to redeem ourselves. We realize and accept that only the finished work of Jesus, God Himself (dying an agonizing death for our sins and rising three days later), can make us certain of entering heaven. Only Christ can redeem us.
Some refer to this understanding and process as becoming “saved,” “born-again” or “asking Jesus to become our Lord and Savior” (Lord: giving Him authority over our lives; Savior: saving us from hell and the oppression of sin).
In addition to eternal salvation, Jesus’ death and resurrection allows us to live the victorious life we want to live, rather than leaving us a slave to our sins and bad habits. When we sin, God isn’t disappointed in us. He grieves for us because He knows how devastating sin is.
In our best moments and in our worst, we can rest securely in our Father’s love. He knows, despite our best intentions, that we’ll still mess up and provides His loving-kindness to lead us to repentance.
Talk about security!
Sheryl H. Boldt writes fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. Her weekly devotions have appeared in newspapers across the South since 2014. She is also the author of the blog, www.TodayCanBeDifferent.net. Connect with her at [email protected].
