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Dec 17, 2024 18:00pm

It Will Keep Forever

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Our favorite (and only) grandson, Hunter married Reagan, the love of his life on Sept. 27. It was a beautiful wedding and as close to perfect as I’ve ever seen.

Those of us who were their grandmothers (or in my case, Nana) were given beautiful corsages and escorted in like queens. I have to say I rather enjoyed it. If anyone saw any tears that day, they were truly tears of joy!

The happy couple went on their honeymoon, and I took every precaution to keep the beautiful corsage fresh in the refrigerator so that when I saw it, I’d remember to pray for them. I was sure I was doing everything right because it remained as pretty as it had been at the wedding several days before.

In fact, I was so pleased with myself that I snapped a photo and sent it to Hunter, along with this note: “My corsage is still absolutely beautiful, and every time I open the fridge, it reminds me to pray for y’all. Love you both to the moon and back (which is something I say to them quite often).” Within a couple of minutes, I got this message back from Hunter: “Love you very much, Nana. The way those are made, they will last forever and always look the same.”

I barely had time to read the note before he called me and said, “Nana, I really thought about letting you keep that corsage in the fridge, but I just couldn’t let you keep going to so much trouble… it isn’t real… it’s artificial!” At that point, all three of us (including Reagan) burst into laughter! I’m sure I’ll get teased about that for years to come, and I’ll surely deserve it!

But it got me to thinking about how some Christians try to “hold on” to God and “be good enough” to stay saved. They think they have to pray enough, read the Bible enough, witness enough, give enough, go to church enough and do enough good deeds or they’ll be lost again! Yes, they did what the Bible says they needed to do in order to be saved — confessed their sins, asked for forgiveness and accepted Christ as Savior — but they still feel like they have to work in order to keep themselves saved. It just isn’t so!

There are many proofs of that in the Bible, but here are just a few:
• You didn’t save yourself, and you can’t keep yourself saved: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9 ESV).
• You belong to God once you accept what His Son did on the cross for you, from that point on, He holds you in His hand, and nobody can take you away from Him: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28) “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).
• His salvation is complete at the moment you accept Jesus as Savior, and it lasts forever: “…Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

I’ve always heard it said that, once you are saved, there is nothing you can do to make God love you more, and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less. He will love you — full out, with nothing held back — for all eternity… no matter what you do or don’t do.

Yes, the corsage is artificial but it is still beautiful and still a reminder of the truth about God’s real and true love for me… because when He looks at me, He sees His Son and the price He paid for me. The Bible says that once we’re saved “…The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (Rom. 8:16-17) That means I’m God’s princess, His dearly beloved child, and I will be forever — nothing I do or don’t do can change that because “it will keep forever!”