Having the Assurance of Your Salvation

"If you died tonight, would your soul go to Heaven?" That was the question asked of me by a small group of ladies from a neighboring church who were out door-knocking. Unlike others, I actually invited them inside. There were four of them as I seem to recall. I asked them to make themselves comfortable and asked if they'd like a glass of tea. Their intentions were good and so were mine. However, when I answered their question, "Yes, if I were to die tonight, I would definitely go to Heaven," they said, "Well! There's nothing for us to do here!" They left abruptly, nearly tearing our storm door off the hinges. You'd have thought I sprouted horns and a tail. I thought their reaction was odd and quite frankly, it hurt my feelings a little bit that they took off that way. There is a backstory to all of this though:

We had only been married a couple or three years. I had led a very sheltered life prior to that; so when I got out on my own as a young adult, I naturally felt the call of the wild. I proceeded to enjoy myself in full-tilt boogie from about ages 19 to 22. I knew I was wrong to do the things I had done and associate with some of the people I did. It bothered my conscience, but I still did it anyway. Somewhere along the way I lost respect for myself. I woke up one morning and didn't like the young woman in the mirror. I told her so. I told her she disgusted me; that I wasn't raised to act the way I had been acting. I had been shoving God to the backburner constantly. Everything came before Him. I knew I was spiritually lost.

I walked down to a little Christian bookstore that was in Adobe Square, which could be seen from our duplex. I wanted to buy a Bible just like my granddaddy's. I found it, bought it, and walked back home. I decided that the gospels Matthew through John would be a good starting point for reading my new Bible. Eventually, I came to Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son. I had learned it as a child and knew it by rote; but I won't say I knew it by heart, because my heart had not yet been touched by it until this very moment. It broke my heart completely. God was not some big meanie out to spoil my fun or throw me in a lake of fire for my horrid behavior. He still loved me and wanted me back in spite of myself. See, the father in Luke 15 didn't stand upon the hill looking down upon son, arms crossed, glowering at him and saying, "Look at that sorry excuse for a son!" No, his heart was full of compassion and he ran to his son--the very son that had disrespected the gifts he had given him. He welcomed him back with open arms full of hugs and kisses. That's how God sees us too. We can come home anytime we want. Our Heavenly Father will always be there with arms open wide.

I still don't understand those ladies' reaction to my answer. I had been restored the week prior. It made me wonder if they really believed in the power of Jesus' blood to wash away not just the sins from our past, but those that we would unwittingly commit in the future as well (Rom. 5: 9-11; 8: 31-39). There is a "sin unto death." It is the one that we refuse to acknowledge and repent of--a persistent state of rebellion (1 Jno. 5: 16-17). As long as we do not allow sin to continually reign inside us, but rather, repent and get control of ourselves, we can be assured that we're in a saved condition (Rom. 6: 12-14). Christians are just humans and still sin, but not as long as we allow ourselves to be directed by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8: 2-14). Forgiveness is always ours for the asking. God freely gives it (Neh. 9: 17; Psa. 130: 3-4; Eph. 1: 7-8; Col. 1: 14; 3: 13; 1 Jno. 1: 9-10).

Rest assured sisters, there are no perfect people, only redeemed people. The ones that think they are perfect are what I call d-e-l-u-s-i-o-n-a-l. If you've taken the prodigal's flight away from home, please come back. Your Father's worried about you and He's looking for you!

Love Ya,
God Bless!