Ponder: Commitment
Scripture: “I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, to the very end” (Psa. 119:112, NKJV).
Escape clause: “a part of a contract that allows a person to get out of the contract in a particular situation” (Webster’s online dictionary). This can be a good thing. A home purchased with a VA loan must have a “VA escape clause” in the contract.
Commitment to Christ, however, has no escape clause. Jesus will not accept this proposition: “I’ll try Christianity, but if I don’t like it, I’ll drop out.” Peter made it clear: “The latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Pet. 2:20-21).
We have assurance of salvation “if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” (Heb. 3:14). There’s a reason the inspired writer chose the word “if.” Just ask yourself: “What ‘if’ I don’t hold fast the beginning of my confidence? Would I still be a partaker of Christ?”
Jesus didn’t give the church at Ephesus an escape clause. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10, ESV). Some translations miss the point with the reading, “until death.” While longevity is important, Jesus’ emphasis was on faithfulness even when it might cost you your life. The NIV gives a good paraphrase: “Be faithful, even to the point of death.”
Fortunately for us, Jesus isn’t looking for an escape clause relative to our salvation. We confidently commit ourselves to Him because we know and trust Him to be faithful. “I know Him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard that which I have committed unto Him against that day” (2 Tim. 1:12, ASV).
Don’t look for an escape clause!
Hymn: “I Know Whom I Have Believed”
Prayer: Father, may we never seek a way to evade faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Joe Slater
