Saved

Saved

Did you know that there are 783,137 words in the Bible? That's a lot. In fact, if you typed 60 words a minute, and you worked an 8 hour day, it would take you almost a month to type the Bible.

Some of those words are better than others, of course. I call them the “big boy” words of the Bible. I want to focus in on just one of them today: the word "saved."

Lots of people in the Bible needed to be saved from some thing or another. Joseph found himself in prison, Noah endured a flood, Daniel faced down lions and his friends were about to be burned alive in a furnace.

Jeremiah was thrown into a pit and Jonah was swallowed by a huge fish, Elijah escaped an enemy army and David had to flee his own palace to avoid a coup by his own son. God saved them all.

Then I came along. Did I mention that I was saved, too? What was I saved from? What was I up against that required an act of God to save me?

Just me. He saved me from myself. From my own foolishness and my selfish, stubborn rebellion against Him. You see, I was facing certain death. The sentence had been proclaimed, I was guilty and I was just waiting for my turn to be punished. And then, Jesus sent Paul to write this:

Romans 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

There you go! I went from a death sentence to receiving eternal life. And that's not even the best part! The best part is that you are given that same offer! That’s what the word "saved" is all about. Take these verses with you as we begin the daunting trek to Resurrection Sunday.

Romans 5:8-9

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."

That's good news! I'll be thinking and praying about that for sure! I’m praying that you have this figured out, too.

Have a great couple of weeks and I'll see you in church for the holidays.