God Won't Let Go of Your Hand
By Rick Warren
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28 (NCV)
You can’t save yourself—but you don’t have to! All you need to do is put your hand in God’s hand and say, “God, I surrender it all to you—all the good and bad parts of my life. I’m not perfect, but you are, and so I’m accepting your gift of salvation.”
When you do that, you can relax in your salvation.
But some days, you’ll want to let go of God’s hand. You’ll want to pull back and say, “I don't even know what I believe.” But God is never going to let go of your hand, because he loves you too much.
Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand. My Father gave my sheep to me. He is greater than all, and no person can steal my sheep out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29 NCV).
The “eternal life” God gives you begins the moment you put your hand in his, and you can’t lose it once you've got it. Why? Because your salvation is not based on having more good works to outweigh your bad works. It’s based on the merits of Jesus Christ.
If you could get to heaven simply by being a nice person, then Jesus dying on the cross was a total waste of suffering, sorrow, sadness, and pain. If there was any other way for you to get into heaven except by Jesus Christ, God would have chosen it. But there was no other way.
Jesus “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10 NIV), which means the world is lost. Everyone is not going to heaven. If everyone was automatically going to heaven, Jesus did not need to come to Earth, live a perfect life, and then carry “our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24 GNT).
When you put your life in God’s hand, he promises he will hold on to you forever. This is why you can relax in your salvation. If you truly trust in Christ and know that you're not getting to heaven on your own efforts, then nothing can steal your salvation from you—not Satan, sorrow, sickness, or society. You're in the hand of the Good Shepherd.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Get Equipped to Face Life’s Challenges with Faith!
Life throws a lot at us these days. And it’s clearer than ever that we need to equip ourselves with biblical wisdom—because only God’s Word gives us the power we need to handle whatever comes our way.
That’s why Pastor Rick created the Unshakable Bible study.
The Unshakable Bible study is our thanks for your support to help take Daily Hope to more people around the world.
So request your copy below when you give—and get equipped to face any challenge with faith!
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.
This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.
