Day 37 – Assurance
When I was growing up, our family visited Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. I remember with awe and delight watching Old Faithful powerfully and majestically erupting its water and steam 130-140 feet into the air and lasting almost five minutes.
Old Faithful is the world’s most famous geyser and erupts around 20 times a day. These eruptions are predicted with a 90% confidence rate, within a 10 minute variation, based on the duration and height of the previous eruption.
While it’s uncommon to be able to predict geyser eruptions with regularity, Old Faithful has lived up to its name, only lengthening the time between eruptions by about 30 minutes in the last 30 years.
When we visited the park, we had the assurance that Old Faithful would erupt for us on schedule.
God himself is the greatest “Old Faithful” – powerful and majestic, consistent and dependable. And he gives us the assurance that we have eternal life now.
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).
God wants us as his children to know that we have eternal life. Not 50% know. Not 75% know. But 100% know that we have eternal life in Jesus!
We can know for sure. Not “I hope so,” but “I know so.”
Plus, God has “given” this life to you and me. We didn’t earn it or deserve it.
If having eternal life depended upon me and my performance, then on a good day I think I might have it, and on a bad day, I wouldn’t really know at all.
But if it depends upon what Jesus has done for me, and God’s free gift to me, then I can know, and I can know for sure. I am assured that I “have” eternal life now.
Action Step: Read aloud this verse with your name in it: “I write these things to __________ who believes in the name of the Son of God so that __________ may know that __________ has eternal life.”
This is God’s Word for you today,
Pastor Dave
