Walking Partners

Some Christians think they could never fall away from their faith. But they could. Any believer can.

Jude wrote in his epistle, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 1:21 NKJV).

Though God’s love is unsought, undeserved, and unconditional, we can be out of harmony with it. So, what does it mean to keep ourselves in the love of God? It means we should keep ourselves in a place where God can bless us.

It also implies that we keep ourselves out of the places where we would not receive the blessing of God, perhaps through our disobedience. We don’t keep ourselves saved, but we do keep ourselves safe. We all are vulnerable to certain things, and we know we could fall into sin.

And even Christians will go through hardships. Actually, Christians will face unique hardships and challenges because they’re Christians. God never promises to airlift us out of all our problems, but He does promise to be with us through them.

Remember what David wrote in Psalm 23: “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me” (verse 4 NLT).

But what about when an accident or tragedy happens in the life of a child of God? Where’s the keeping power of God then? In asking a question like that, we’re assuming that somehow, we have the inherent right to live long, easy lives and die peacefully in our sleep one day.

The Bible, however, says that our times are in His hands (see Psalm 31:15). That means the Lord will walk with us through life, no matter what we’re facing. And we’ll never be alone.