2 CORINTHIANS 4:6 – For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

THEME OF THE DAY. DON’T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. Let me encourage us to do something soon. Actually, three things. First, in the course of “doing life”, think about all the people we see and realize how few of them are Christians. Another thing to do is when getting up early on a Sunday morning and driving to church, notice throughout our neighborhoods how many people won’t be attending worship services and simply view Sunday as an extension of the weekend. The final thing to do is stop and thank God that based on nothing within ourselves, nothing we have done, and nothing we could have done, we are Christians. I think every true believer will experience times we look to God, the wonders of His sovereign election of His people, and say, “Lord, why me?” and He whispers back, “Because I am who I am and I do what I do for my glory and that includes making you My child.”

Yet, as often as we might be in humble awe over being a Christian, there are far more “often times” that life gets in the way, and we lose that humble awe. We actually, not on purpose but by neglect, take it for granted that when Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14), we are counted as one of the few. However, it need not be that way. Allow me to share a truth about the Lord, us, and salvation which will keep the “awe factor” alive in our hearts and not take it for granted we are Christians.

When it comes to keeping the “awe factor” alive and well in our hearts, it is a matter of theology and Biblical thinking. And here is the bottom line – remember salvation is of the Lord – all of it. The prophet Jonah spoke this truth from the belly of a great fish – “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (Jonah 2:9). When thinking on what it means to be a Christian, never start with what we have done. Granted, we do believe on Christ; we do receive Christ, but go way back before our acts of responding to God’s effectual call to salvation. Go back into eternity and a great place is the opening chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:3-6). Yes, I know some people get “squirmy” over predestination and the doctrine of election. Don’t. Too many Christians lose their joy because they cannot figure out sovereign election, a theme throughout the Bible, and an individual’s responsibility to believe on Christ. Don’t be one of those joyless Christians. Election is a glorious truth of the Bible and of great comfort. Yes, I know. There is a human tension between God’s sovereign election of those to salvation and human responsibility to respond to the Gospel, but it is a tension only among sinful and finite human beings, not a holy and infinite God. So don’t debate it or try to figure it out. Rest in it and rejoice – salvation is of the Lord – all of it. And always remember, we don’t have to understand God’s ways to trust His ways.

Being a Christian is the greatest privilege, blessing, and experience a human being will ever know. It makes a person the direct recipient of God’s mercy, love, and grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. Strive to never take this marvelous work of God for granted. After all, it cost Him much to make us His children – the death of His Son.

PRAYER: “Father, help me never to lose the wonder of being Your child.”

QUOTE: “Make it a habit to daily thank God for making us His children. It will go a long way in preventing a cold heart.”