Carp's Daily Tidbits
"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Psalm 103:2
Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Today's Title: Insurance vs. Assurance
Today's Scripture: Romans 8:15-17
Trying
to decide on insurance policies is tantamount be being in a candy store with
only a dollar in your pocket. All the
candy looks good, it all has wonderful wrapping paper, and all of it is sweet
and tempting. I had the same experience
when I decided to change automobile insurance policies. The decision to change was the easy part,
selecting the best deal, now that was the challenge.
I called at least six companies
requesting information about their policies and received quotes from them on
the monthly cost of insurance for my car.
All were helpful, promising me their company offered the best deal and
the best coverage. I came away from some
of those conversations convinced the person on the other end of the phone never
had a math course in his or her life.
For the same coverage, some companies were at least $200 higher than
their competitors—go figure! I finally
settled on a company that offered me better coverage at a lower price and the
company was well-known and had an excellent reputation. Not only did they sell me insurance for my
car, they also included the assurance they would be there if and when I needed
them.
These two words, assurance and
insurance, are so close in pronunciation but so far apart in meaning. I can send a package in the mail and insure
it in the event that it is lost or stolen which means there is no assurance the
package will arrive. Likewise, I can
assure the state of Texas
I’ll be an excellent driver but they require me to carry insurance in order to
drive a car. The difference is simple,
in order to have insurance you place your money into someone else’s bank
account; in order to have assurance you place your trust in someone else
personally.
As Christians, we need to decide how
we approach God in our daily walk with Him.
Do we see the Lord as an insurance agent, merely providing coverage as
long as we go to church, say a prayer each day, serve on a committee, give help
to the needy, or teach a Sunday school class?
Are we trying to pay for His services through works and actions? People who maintain such a relationship with
God live in mortal fear they will do something wrong or fail to do something
important and the policy will lapse and God will no longer provide coverage for
their lives. This is a terrible burden
to bear and one God never intended for us to carry.
The other approach to God is to
place absolute trust in Him and receive the assurance in our hearts that He
cares for us. God loves you and He wants
to provide for you, to care for you, and to have a relationship with you. When you accept Jesus Christ as your personal
savior, God gives you the assurance you are one of His children and that you
receive the full rights and privileges of a relationship with Him.
This is the point the
Apostle Paul was making in his letter to the Romans. Paul wanted his readers to understand that
God was not in the insurance business but in the assurance business. God wants His people to have the assurance,
the confidence, the knowledge that He loves them and that they belong to Him. In Romans8:15-17 Paul writes, “For you did not
receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the
Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit
himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are
children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed
we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
Do you see the
assurance in this verse? The Spirit of
God does not make us slaves to the fears and cares of this world. On the contrary, He gives us the full right
to approach God, to call him father—Abba means daddy in Aramaic and Hebrew—and
to have the assurance in our hearts that we are His children. The coverage for our needs is guaranteed not
by what we do but by the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ.
Wherever you are in your walk today
with the Lord, take a moment and consider your relationship with Him. How do you view your Heavenly Father? Is He someone who just provides insurance for
your life? Do you feel as if your policy
with God could lapse if you fail to some particular task or if you do something
you shouldn't? Or, do you know that God
is your God, that He loves you, and that He wants to relate to you, that He
wants you to have a perfect union with Him?
Do you have insurance or assurance
today?
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