Hot and Cold

I remember when I first discovered that I needed a closer relationship with God.  I was repentant, motivated and deliberate about purging all things worldly from my field of view.  I was fired up and the return of my Saviour was at hand. But as time went on, I found it a struggle to avoid temptation and soon it was hard to stop giving in.

Each cycle ended with reluctant and embarrassed prayer that occurred infrequently. I felt adrift awaiting a revival.

When the revival starts, it feels like a new beginning.  Old sermons seem new in revealing Gods truth and piercing my heart with a real need and urgency for repentance and a closer walk with God.  Pretty soon, I have rejected worldly influences.  Even the music I listen to in the car is recent finds from Christian artists.  I am on fire again and seek every opportunity to share my Saviour with my friends and family.

This cycle of hot and cold is somewhat inevitable I am sure.  But how does a Christian get past these wild waves and onto smoother waters.  How do we claim the victory over sin that Jesus has given to us and turn from it once and for all.

James 4.7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I look forward to the day when I can be comfortable in this friendship I have with Christ.  The time when I trust in Him when times are good and bad.  It is amazing how sometimes I feel so close to God, and others I don’t.  But salvation isn’t about feeling saved.  It is about faith. The assurance that no matter how you feel, as long as you live life according to the will of God, you are saved.  There is nothing high or low about it.  Just the steady assurance of salvation.