DAILY DEVOTIONAL – March 8, 2021
“Known and Owned”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as Your disciples You have called us out of this world. This place is not our home. You warned us that there will be days where we feel like foreigners not only in this world but even to ourselves because of the new creation You have made us to be. Lord, help us each day to take confidence in Your promises and in the unshakable salvation You won for us through Your life, death and resurrection. Amen.
Scripture: John 10:22-30
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Devotional – “Known and Owned”
It is often said in the world of business and entrepreneurship that, “It’s not about what you know, but about who you know.” There is part of that I know to be true in business, however, when it comes to the assurance of our salvation and the success of our spiritual life of faith, it’s far less about who you know and all about who knows you. Who knows you makes all the difference, both in this world and the world to come. Jesus said in Matthew 7 that on the Last Day of judgement there will be “many who say to me Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Who you are makes all the difference, and who you are is all about who knows you.
There was an elderly man who was hurrying to his 8:00am doctor appointment. He wanted to finish his appointment as quickly as possible, so he could get to another appointment on time. The doctor asked what other appointment had him so anxious, and the elderly man said that every morning at 9:00am he goes to the hospital and has breakfast with his wife. The doctor asked about her condition and why she was in the hospital, and the man replied that for the past 5 years she has had Alzheimer’s and no longer knows who she is and doesn’t recognize him as her husband either. Both saddened and a little confused the doctor asked why he continues to go each morning if she has no idea who he is. The old man replied, “She may not remember who I am, but I still know who she is.”
We all have those days when we find it difficult to remember who we are as the children of God. The temptations of this world, the lies of the devil along with our own brokenness and sinfulness can leave us stupefied at times and suffering from spiritual amnesia. However, even when we may feel anything but a child of God, and even when we may feel a thousand miles away from God, nothing has changed about how God sees us and nothing has changed about our standing before God as sons and daughters of the Most High. The assurance and security of our salvation comes not from how close we feel to God or how much we think we know Him. Our eternal salvation and identity as children of God comes from knowing that God knows us and has promised to keep us as the children of God He has declared us to be and made us to be through faith in Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus said in our text from John 10. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
This passage from John is one of several passages from Scripture that I retreat to and that give me great comfort whenever I am tempted to doubt or struggle my identity as a child of God. When Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me,” He is teaching that only those whom God knows as His children are those who hear His voice. So, if I follow Christ as Lord and Savior, that is only because He has made me His own. 1 Corinthians 8:3 says, “If anyone loves God, he is known by God.” So, if I love God, even in all my sinfulness and brokenness, it is because God knows me and has already made me His child. In John 15:16 & 19 Jesus says to His disciples, “You did not choose me, I chose you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world.” Finally, Hebrews 12:2 says that it is Jesus who is the “author and finisher of our faith.” If I believe in Jesus and trust Him with my soul, that is only because He has graciously written that faith into my heart and He promises to finish the story of my eternal salvation. The one who promised and who did rise Himself from the dead has proven able and willing to do so, and will do it. We must always remember that we are saved not by the strength with which we hold onto God, but by the strength with which He holds on to us.
This is what faith is; believing what God has said about us even when we feel like we don’t know ourselves. Faith is being sure of what Christ has done for us on the cross even when and especially when we don’t know what to do for ourselves. Faith is knowing who knows you and trusting that what God has redeemed and marked as His own through the waters of baptism will in fact be and remain His for all of eternity. By faith in Christ my friends, you and I are His. We are the children of God.
Thanks for joining me today for another time of devotion in God’s Word. Remember, God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
