Once a Child Always a Child

Devotional

As a disciple of Jesus we have full assurance of eternal, face-to-face relationship with our heavenly Father. John 10:27-30 says,

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.

Once we have become a child of God by confessing with our mouth and believing in our heart that Jesus Christ truly is Lord of all, we are the child of God forever (Romans 10:9). No sin, struggle, trial, or rebellion can pluck us from the Father’s hand. And as children of God, we no longer look to this world but to our total restoration, redemption, and glorification as our source of hope.

There is peace and transcendent joy in the truth that this world is not our final resting place. Your pains and trials are temporary and pale in comparison to the incredible life that awaits you in heaven with your Father. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rest in the fact that you are fully and constantly loved by your Creator. Nothing you or anyone else could ever do has the power to pluck you from his hand. God made salvation as simple and complete as possible. Once you have been saved and brought into the kingdom of God, you are forever saved.

Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Your salvation is about the grace of your Father, not your own works. If salvation ever became about our own strength, it would cease to be rooted in God’s loving grace and rest on our shoulders instead of the death of Jesus.

Placing our hope in eternal relationship with our Father is the path to freedom from the cares and burdens of this world. We will never truly know abundant life until we live surrendered to our King and Savior and lay the crowns and cares of this life at his feet. This world is not your home. This world is not meant to be your highest satisfaction. Pursue greater depths of relationship with your Father and watch as the stress and cares of the world fall off in light of his glorious grace. Place your hope in him alone, and follow his leading to an abundant life free from the worries, doubts, and fears that come from living for the world instead of Jesus.