The Uttermost

Therefore, He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. Hebrews 7:25 "Saved to the uttermost." Have you ever contemplated what that means? As used in the Bible, its meaning is; "The extreme, farthest point, or the completel totality of something." I see a Savior who has no limits, especially as concerns the salvation He so freely offers those who will trust and follow Him. Yet, how often do we find ways to limit this salvation? What are we missing when we do? How far below the level of life He offers are we living? Joni Eareckson Tada, confined to a wheelchair for more than 6 decades now, said that she wants to proclaim a Gospel that, "Saves every day. That sustains and shapes us every day." She's talking about a Gospel that is alive...every day. A Gospel that pours out saving grace upon us in the midst of all of life's challenges and needs....every day. A Gospel that not only sustains us through this day, but does so every day, and sustains in victory. A Gospel that shapes us as we live in His loving hands and He works within us His mind, His heart, His life...every day. A Gospel that, no matter how far He has taken us on this day, He will take us even further in the next day. And He will do so....every day. In 2nd Timothy, Paul wrote about how he was living chained within his Roman prison cell, but He triumphantly proclaimed, "but the Word of God is not chained." Unless it is chained by us. Where in our lives might we be doing so? What particular prison cells are we living in where not only we are bound, but we believe His Word and His promises are bound as well? Where are we not allowing His Word to be experienced "to the uttermost?" If you're reading this, I expect you have some level of belief in His Word. Is it the kind of belief that makes His Word real to you in your everyday life? When you're confronted with challenges, deep needs, fears, dangers, and more, who and what do you look to? Someone once said that we don't believe the God we believe in. How true is that in us? Churches are filled with people for whom the Word of God plays no real role in their lives. If His Word is not real then He is not real, at least in our day to day living. Paul, in a prison cell, was free. Joseph, enslaved for 12 years, was free. David, in a cave, pursued by enemies who sought his life, was free. For them, and so many more, God and His Word were real and alive. This was more real to them than the cell, the slavery, or the cave. May it be so for you and me as well. His Word is not bound, and through it, He saves to the uttermost. The enemy, working through this world will challenge that truth daily, but his words are words of death. They cannot stand against Christ's words of life. Stand in His words. Live in them, and the enemy will flee from you, every time. Every day. Every moment. Blessings, Pastor O