Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 2 Timothy 2:10 (NIV).
Today is Maundy Thursday. Think of it as election day. We are the elected. Think about that.
How do you obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus? Everything that could be done to save mankind from the second death of damnation has been done by Jesus. He did it on Easter Sunday, which we’ll celebrate in a few days. The ONLY thing you do to put that salvation into effect in your life is believe. With belief comes love. That’s it; nothing more, nothing less. All the work, all the spiritual battling, all the sacrifice, all the love: Jesus did it all. The only thing we do is believe. And not lip service; real belief. Believing means surrendering to His will, surrendering control of your life to Him. It means letting His Spirit guide your heart to remake your life away from sinful ways. It means replacing enmity with amity, questions with understanding, hate with love.
The payoff for it? Eternal glory. That eternity starts now, here on the Third Rock, there in your life where you live now. You participate in it now and will for the rest of your life here, until the time your life here is ended and you move to eternity with Jesus in person. Then the fun really begins.
And who begins this journey for you? You know the answer: God does. Jesus did from the time in Eden to the last moment of your life. In love, God is eternally all-knowing. He knows ahead of time who will end up with Him at the end of time, yet He loves us enough to put aside this knowledge and grant us free will. You and I don’t HAVE TO believe in Jesus. We get to. We get to choose whether or not to believe that He has done everything for salvation or not.
With that comes accepting – or not – that He loved us before we even knew Him. You and I can love Him because He first loved us, or we can choose to not believe it and allow to be so for God to turn us over to the consequences of our choice. Love respects choices, and God has that kind of love for us. He will keep working on us, providing what we need to make the right choice up until the moment we die. After that moment, it’s too late to decide. We will all meet Him. Will you stand in joy for your choices, or fall in damned defeat because of them? He elected you, chose you, through love. On this Maundy Thursday, what will you do?
For further reading: Colossians 1:24, Titus 1:1, 2 Corinthians 4:17, 1 Peter 5:10, 2 Timothy 2:11.
Lord, thank You for electing me to be saved. Help our unbelief. Forgive our sins.
Practical Proverbs 