Today's promise: The gift of salvation
Formed and reformed
I was appointed in ages
past, at the very first, before the earth began.
Lord my God, You have formed and reformed me.
St. Anselm
Sin and assurance
Our human pride often
reverses the order of things. We think God came into our lives rather late. Our
identity was firmly established, and then He invited Himself in, trying to woo
us into a relationship with Him. We were in control of the heart that opened up
to Him. Or so we thought.
In spite of our sense of
independence, God has a prior claim on us. He created the world that became our
necessary environment. He began the genetic process that eventually resulted in
our birth. He even fashioned us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13). He is
no late-coming Redeemer. He and His wisdom have been there all along.
This is extremely
important to know when it seems as if your life is falling apart. It isn't. The
life you have constructed may be falling apart, but the life God
has fashioned is not. His wisdom has known all things before the foundations of
the world — including you. If God has let you be undone, He has allowed it for
a reason. He is bringing you to the end of your sinful self and to the
beginning of life in His secure arms. God is bringing you home.
Do you realize how
thoroughly rooted in eternity your life is? It was not an afterthought in the
mind of a play-it-by-ear God. Did you think your sin was a surprise to Him? It
wasn't. He has already made provision for it. Before the foundation of the
world, He did at least two things: He brought forth His wisdom; and He thought
of you (Ephesians 1:4). His wisdom and your existence went hand in hand. Does
that boggle your mind? It should. Rest in the assurance of a forever-wise God.
Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotional by Chris
Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for May 7.
Content is derived
from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale
Publishing House
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