True Security
November 14, 2018
Our son Brian had a college admissions interview the other night in downtown Dallas, on the 15th floor of a beautiful building that covers a full city block. The law firm whose name is etched in stone occupies the entire building. The lobby floors are marble and its ceiling is at least 50 feet high. There are two approximately 20 x 20 foot digital screens that display bright, colorful amorphous images that transform from one into another like a kaleidoscope. There is an abstract modern art sculpture that stretches high into the air from the floor. I have no idea what it’s supposed to be. When I was a practicing attorney, I had a few occasions visit law firms like this one. They want to intimidate you; to show that they ooze money. To their clients, the message is that if you want to hire them, it’s going to cost you plenty. To their adversaries, they project a message that you are beneath them socially, financially and in all other ways. Whatever sad little law firm you belong to, it’s inferior to theirs.
I remember being awed by the opulence of some of these big firms and wishing that I had endless money to spend on marble floors, huge high definition screens, and ridiculous sculptures. I didn’t need any of those things. I earned a decent salary and we were living comfortably. We had a nice house, new cars, took the vacations we wanted and had money in the bank. Even though I would never have the obscene excess of the white shoe law firms, I still found pleasure and self-worth in our financial security. After we moved to Texas, I learned personally through a series of unforeseen circumstances that financial security is a very fragile thing. You can lose it in a hurry. The Great Depression, Enron, and Bernie Madoff are just a few examples. Binding your happiness and worth to wealth is like walking on thin ice and hoping that it won’t give way.
If we can’t have our security in wealth, what about our health? I’m about to turn 53 years old and in good health as far as I know. I can still go out and run several miles. I don’t get frustrated if I forget something upstairs and have to go back up to get it. I don’t have any real physical limitations to be concerned about. I’m not 18 anymore, yet I’m reasonably satisfied with my health. But good health is also fleeting. As many of us have experienced, it takes one call from your doctor, and instantly you learn that you are not in perfect health but rather you are facing a significant and scary health challenge. We are all aging and either in the midst of a health challenge or eventually headed toward one. If we are finding our peace and security in our health, it’s only a matter of time before we will be robbed of it.
Relationships too will eventually disappoint because they are part of a sin-broken world. Even the people closest to us will disappoint us because they are tainted by sin. We will disappoint ourselves and others because we are tainted by sin. The only One who is not tainted by sin and who will never let us down is God. If we feel disappointed with God, it’s because we have false, sin tainted, selfish expectations of what God “owes” us, or what we “deserve”, or what we think God should do for us in a given situation. But we must remember that God never promised us financial security, or security in our health or our relationships. In fact, just the opposite: Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:30).
My aim is not to depress you, but to lead you to the only place where true security can be found. It’s in God’s promise of eternal security. Jesus said in John 10:27-30: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Those are incredible, life changing, eternity securing promises. When we believe the gospel, that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead, and we trust in Him alone for our salvation, our eternal future is secure. Don’t look for security in the things of this world. The longer we live, the more we learn that they are here today and gone tomorrow. Like that prestigious law firm, we will all have our names etched in stone someday, on our gravestones. Whatever you are facing, true security, lasting security, eternal security is found only Jesus Christ. Let your anchor sink deep into the bedrock of Jesus Christ and find your security there.
