My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.By E. Mote, 1836
There are a lot of options. There are many gods and ideas to put your trust in. You can put your trust in Allah, Buddha, Joseph Smith, Vishnu, and Shiva. There’s Baal, Asherah, Dagon, and Molech. You might think those references are outdated, but I can assure you there are also those who still worship Athena, Zeus, Odin, and Thor. I’ve met them. Not the gods of course, but the people who seek their help. It’s pretty hard to meet someone that doesn’t exist or has died.
You can trust in your own goodness and power. In your intelligence and ideas. You can place your hope for eternity in your spouse, best friend, or child. You can read something in a fiction book or watch a movie and adopt the idea that the Matrix is real. You can go to AA and say, “Higher Power” and mean the group that you are sitting with.
You can go to Homegoods right now and find literal idols to put in your yoga room or on your back porch to remind you to be peaceful. You can find books about witchcraft at Barnes and Noble and everywhere else. They will teach you how to fix yourself and those around you. How to get power and sleep better at night. There are books and cards and games to help you hear from the dead. You can put your hope there.
There truly are a lot of options! They are so available and so often used that I have probably upset a few of you with my list. I am going to risk offending because I cannot compromise on this. Jesus is the way the truth and the life. No one is getting to the Father but through Him. That’s not my idea, that’s His!
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
It’s been a long time since I considered a false god to be of any help to me. My issue is typically that I place my hope in my abilities. I sometimes mistake my role in salvation and give myself too much credit. I remember deciding to follow. A decision I make again and again, but even that decision was an answer to a call from Jesus. I can’t take credit for it. He is the founder and perfector of my faith. Even as I type this I have a hard time understanding where His work ends and mine begins. I sometimes take credit for the Fruit of the Spirit as if Whitney could possibly muster up peace or self-control. Those of you who know me are chuckling and giving God the credit for any good thing you see in my life.
I know I must read my Bible, pray, forgive, and do as God commands but that’s still not where my hope is allowed to rest! It’s not my actions but His. He’s trustworthy. If He says it’s all on Him then it is. If He says that the perfect blood of Jesus is enough to wash me clean then I’m clean. If He says that He is preparing a place for me then He is.
I will read my Bible to get to know the God who loves me and saved me. I will sit with Him for hours every week in prayer and worship. I will watch the Fruit of the Spirit develop in me without any of my assistance, and I will work hard to forgive others and obey Him. I will be generous with my finances, possessions, and time, and continue to preach the gospel. I will strive to obey and ask for forgiveness when I blow it.
But I can’t place my faith in reading the Bible, praying, and worshiping. These are the things I do to build my relationship with God and set hold of His kingdom even now. Without a relationship with Him, they won’t save me. Without the blood of Christ, they won’t do the trick. Forgiveness and following the law won’t save me but I will do them because I fear and love Him. Generosity isn’t enough either.
I must believe that Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice once and for all. That the blood that He shed was enough to wash my sins away and make me as white as snow. I must choose to follow Him and only Him. My only hope when I stand before God at the end of this short life is that I bear the mark of the One who died to set me free and give me a relationship with the Father.
He won’t be impressed with idols, ideas, philosophy, and religion. He won’t be swayed by how hard we try since all of our good deeds are like filthy rags compared to His holiness. It will not matter who you were married to or what kind of children you raised. The number of hours we were in church won’t be a deciding factor.
Our only hope in every situation here on Earth and for all of eternity is the perfect spotless Lamb that is Jesus Christ and that will never change. So there is only one place to stand. On the Rock.
“There is none holy like the Lord:
for there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God.1 Samuel 2:2
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