– Secret Place Insights –
Dear One, I have no idea of how many times I have been asked by a parent of a once confessing Christian child – gone wayward, “Do you think that he, or she, is saved?”
My thoughts run to the verse, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;…” 6:7-8b (KJV)
Gently, I speak about the fact that God will not be mocked, Galatians 6:7 & 8. I want to give the parent good reason to continuously pray for the child. But after that, I usually recite the verse, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:28 & 29
But always, I have wondered. And I would find myself saying, “It appears to me, and I could be wrong, but it appears, that if the child sincerely accepted Jesus that he, or she, is forever His, and will eventually return, reminiscent of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-32. But again, I am not sure, for God will not be mocked.
Then last Friday came, and at the close of my quiet time, I brought out a two-ring-binder. It’s the size meant for small index cards. Inside, I have 66 handwritten verses listed, ones which are memorized during extended one-on-one discipleship. I opened it, wondering if I still knew all the verses. It has been awhile since I last went through them. The first verse was:
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no
one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who
has given them to me, is greater than all. No one can
snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:28-29
And as I sat ruminating on the verse, I thought of God, and His love, and Him as God Our Father, as Jesus referred to Him. Then I thought about earthly parents, and how, even in our sinful state, no matter how upset we were, or are, with a child, we desperately desire to have the wayward child back into the fold. After pondering that for awhile, I would take another glance at the last line. “No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand,” and wonder does that mean a one-time, truly confessing, wayward child cannot escape salvation? What about repentance, and what about faith without works is dead?
I left the room thankful for two things, that God is just, and that He works through intercessory prayer giving us every reason to be hopelessly-hopeful.
“Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice. How blessed are all those who long for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
Blessings for another week,
Susanne
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