S33P7 – The fruit of trust in God: life
Psa. 91:14-16
“Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him; I will set him on high, because he knows My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him, and I will let him see My salvation.”
Our lives as Christians is about the proclamation of allegiance. A great example of the forces that pull us in opposing directions in this regard is the story at the heart of the Star Wars franchise. There is the dark side, and there is the light side. Some will swear allegiance to the dark side and its evil purposes in hopes of attaining some type of reward. However, the nature of the dark side is self-serving. Members of this league are disposable and insignificant. One cannot expect to receive anything good from that which is evil. Those who serve the light side, however, can expect that this will bring something good to them. The light side represents knowledge and defense. It is protective in nature and builds those who practice it. This is no different for those of us who trust in God and place our allegiance with him.
Our God is one who rewards us for choosing him. The irony here is that He is the one who draws us to him and makes our faith possible. Notwithstanding this, He chooses to bless those who love him. When we place our allegiance with him, He rewards us with life. Let us not forget that those who remain in sin and follow their own ways are already dead. They are not alive. Placing our trust in God is what gives us life. We go from being dead in our transgressions to being alive in Jesus Christ. Let us also remember the kind of life that awaits us when we place our allegiance with God. Jesus Christ did not come so that we would live a mere basic existence. No, He came so that we may live an abundant life. While this may not necessarily mean that we will have abundant wealth, we certainly will experience spiritual riches beyond compare. That is the life that awaits those who place their trust in God.
Some say that you have not lived until you have had a certain experience or visited a certain place or eaten a certain food. We tend to view life as much less than it is. We tend to forget that there is so much more than our short time here in this order of things. Indeed, God promises much more to those who love him and trust him. We should say that you have not lived until you have placed your trust in God. This is because there is no life outside of our Savior. Allegiance to the forces that fight against God is unfortunately our default as we are born into sin. We must make a decision to place our allegiance with God so that we can defeat death just as Jesus did. Father, thank You that You reward those who place their trust in you with abundant and everlasting life made available through the sacrifice of your Son.