The late Charles Schulz, a believer in Jesus Christ, often included some great theology in his Peanuts comic strip. One of my favorites was repeated on August 4, 2019 and dealt with the need we have for security. Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty are sitting under a big shade tree and Patty asks: “What do you think security is, Chuck?” His response: “Security is sleeping in the back seat of the car when you’re a little kid and you’ve been somewhere with your mom and dad, and its night and you’re riding home in the car and you can sleep in the back seat. You don’t have to worry about anything. Your mom and dad are in the front seat, and they do all the worrying. They take care of everything. But it doesn’t last! Suddenly you’re grown up and it can never be that way again. Suddenly it’s over and you’ll never get to sleep in the back seat again! Never!”
I’m sure you can probably relate. Sometimes you wish you weren’t the adult in the room and could go back to sleeping in the back seat of the car while mom and dad are taking care of everything. Well, it is possible, for we have a heavenly Father who tells us to “cast all our anxiety (care) upon Him, because He cares for you” (I Pet. 5:7). The Psalmist, David, who I’m sure could also relate to what Charlie Brown expressed, wrote: “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken” (Psa. 55:22). The Apostle Paul, wrote these words to encourage the believers at Philippi: “Be anxious for nothing (don’t worry about anything), but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6,7).
Webster defines “security” as: “The state of being of feeling secure; freedom from fear, anxiety, doubt, etc.; something that gives or assures safety, tranquility, protection, certainty.” Hey, that’s just what we see promised in the above verses, and many more in Scripture. Isaiah, the prophet, wrote these comforting words “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You” (Isa. 26:3 NIV). David wrote: “I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely” (Psa. 16: 8,9). The Apostle Paul wrote these words to his understudy, Timothy: “…for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day (when I stand before Him)” (II Tim. 1:12).
We live today in a world of uncertainty. For the past 3 1/2 months we have experienced something unique in history where the majority of the population has been living under lock down, many having lost their jobs, and others having to work from their homes using the available technology. Students were not able to return to school or to participate in sports but had to take their classes online. The entire entertainment industry came pretty much to a screeching halt, as did the sports world. Shopping became interesting, with many commodities missing from shelves and workers and shoppers wearing masks. Travel was curtailed, affecting the airline and rail industries. The majority of the world had to “shelter in,” and still thousands contracted the Covid-19 virus and thousands have died from it. The political world has seemingly just totally lost its moorings and everything that happens gets politicized with anger, animosity and now protests and riots and vandalism and looting. People are threatening to “defund the police” whose job is to keep us safe. Things have become crazy and out of control. Life has become very uncertain. We don’t know when this virus will finally run its course and people will settle down and life will get back to normal—whatever that will look like. It will definitely be a “new normal,” as some ways of living will have been permanently changed. People have lots to be anxious over and many are fearful and lacking peace and confidence about the future, and with good reason.
I’m reminded of an old hymn “In Times Like These” by Ruth Caye Jones:
“In times like these you need a Savior, In times like these you need an anchor.
Be very sure, be very sure your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock!
(Chorus)
This Rock is Jesus, yes He’s the One, This rock is Jesus, the only One!
Be very sure, be very sure your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock!
In times like these you need the Bible, in times like these oh be not idle.
Be very sure, be very sure your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock!
In times like these I have a Savior, in times like these I have an anchor.
I’m very sure, I’m very sure, my anchor holds and grips the solid Rock!”
Many—the majority in fact—are looking for security in all the wrong places: their financial resources or real estate; in their job, their position, their education or their skill set; or in religion and their church attendance or membership. But, there is real security in only one place—a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, who came to earth, born of a virgin, lived a perfect life revealing to mankind the character of God and then laid down His life as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). Security comes from accepting Christ’s death on your behalf and inviting Him into your life as Savior and Lord. We are secure from that day forward through eternity for we have “Christ in us the hope of glory,” and “He Himself said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’ ” (Col. 1:27; Heb. 13:5). Security comes, not from religion but a relationship with God the Son. John wrote in his first epistle, the “know-so epistle”: “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life” (I Jn. 5:11-13).
Our security is in the almighty, unchanging God our Savior, Jesus Christ. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us…For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro. 8:31-39). AMEN!! That is real security?
Forever His,
Pastor Dave
Wisdom of The Week 