Insurance vs. Assurance

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rying 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 Romans 8:15-17 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.

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herever 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?