Love from Above

James 1:17 KJV
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

I remember a friend whose brother became ill with a serious disease.  This friend walked out with a look of anguish on his face very violently with great panache through his cigarettes into the trash and slammed the lid.  Two days later he was walking around with a big pipe in his mouth.   First off his brother got better and became one of the best basketball players to ever attend his high school.  He was ordained and became an advocate for neglected and abused kids.  The older brother who threw his smokes away became a fine family man and a minor league baseball player.

Where this whole story got off on the wrong path is somehow we think eternal security is a part of our effort and we make things right by bargaining with God.  No so, bad luck is the way of the world and the luck of the draw.  This does not mean we should tempt fate.  My friend with the smokes could damage his lungs with continued use.  But God does not love us any more or any less because of our effort.  God loves us solely because he is God.  When we come to Christ everything that is possible to do has been done.

Father we are grateful that when Jesus said it is finished all was done.  We need not attempt to take security in our feeble efforts but rather except it as a free gift from Jesus Christ. Amen