Sweet Assurance

This is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

1 John 5:11-13

By the time I was nine years old, I think I had asked Jesus into my heart multiple times! I didn’t tell anyone because in our small hometown church, when someone asked Jesus into their heart, they had to walk down the aisle and make a public profession of their faith. I was such a scaredy-cat. I could not bring myself to get up off the pew. One Sunday when my older brother, Ryan, got up to profess his faith publicly, I immediately jumped up to join him. Finally, someone I could walk down the aisle with so I would never have to walk it alone.

That summer, I attended a Girls’ Auxiliary camp in Aiken, South Carolina. The camp director told us that there was a minister available to us all week and we could go to him with any problem we had or ask him any questions. I rallied up every bit of courage for my first visit to the preacher. I was worried that my eternal salvation was in jeopardy and my baptism “did not take” because I had gone forward with my brother and not on my own.

The minister asked me if I believed that Jesus died on the cross for my sin and if I had invited Him into my life. When I said yes, he assured me that I was saved for sure!

God wants us to be assured of our eternal life in Christ. That happens when we receive Him by faith, believing He died on the cross for our sin. Buy a small jar of honey and write “Forever” across the glass. When you see it in the cupboard, be reminded that, just as honey doesn’t spoil, your salvation in Christ lasts forever.