Holding On

HOLDING ON

 

In a recent reading of (1 Tim 6) from the NLT version, my attention was drawn to part of verse 12 "---Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you----". This tells me what it is that we should be holding on to! We read in (1 John 5:11) that "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son", therefore it is really Jesus, the only begotten Son of God that we should be holding on to! Right? The first part of (1 Tim 6:12) tells us "Fight the good fight for the true faith", and then goes on to speak of holding on to eternal life. This tells me that holding on to eternal life these days will involve a fight! The Word of God tells us clearly that He will never leave us or forsake us, but it doesn't tell us we won't have to fight sometimes for our very life! We are called to live in a very wicked world, that is becoming more "Anti-Christian" all the time. Paul wrote to the church at Philippi that they should live as bright lights in a world "full of crooked and perverse people". (Phil 2:15) If that were true back in Paul's day, how much more so today, some twenty centuries later!

 

How important it is, even very critical, as followers of Jesus today, to stay real close to Him! You might be thinking how can I do that when He is heaven with the Father, and I'm here on this sin cursed earth? Remember the instructions He left with His disciples before His ascension, as recorded in the gospel of John in chapters 14, 15, and 16. He assured them it was going to be better for them for Him to go away because then He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them. The promises He gave them are still valid for us, as His followers today. So if we are to be victorious in our faith battles, it is absolutely essential that we get to know the person of the Holy Spirit, and learn to hear His voice! Some people treat Him as some sort of power that they can receive and use, but this is very wrong, and often leads to "fanaticism"! The Holy Spirit is a person, and He must be honored as such. Not only is He a person like you or me, but He is part of the Trinity, and therefore a Divine Personality! Remember this world is not our home; we are just passing through on our way to our eternal home with Jesus our Redeemer! Let's hold on fast to eternal life, and heed the warning of (Heb 2:1-4) about the danger of "drifting away"!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                               Revised 18/07/14