27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
John 10:27-30 KJV
This passage is gotten from the parable of the Good Shepherd, where Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd and we, as His sheep. What struck me the most in the passage above were verses 28 and 29. It states that if you are born again, you are literally in the palm of Jesus’ hand and that no man can ever pluck you from there.
According to the Oxford dictionary, one of the definitions of pluck is to ‘take hold of (something) and quickly remove it from its place’. Friends, this is amazing because it implies that no man, no human being, nobody, nothing can ever take us away from our place in Christ. We are secure in our position in Christ. That is reason for jubilation!
If you think about all the things we own and value in life e.g. money, cars, houses, jobs, achievement, success, and even relationships, all of these can suddenly be taken away from us at any point. Things can easily be stolen or destroyed, relationships with others can be broken, a job can be lost, even loved ones pass away. But guys, the super amazing fact is that nobody, no matter what they do, no matter how much they long to, nobody can ever take away your relationship with Christ. No man can ever separate us from Christ. Even the devil doesn’t have the power to take you away from Christ! It is one who makes the choice to turn away from God.
According to John 17:3, eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ. In verse 28 Jesus is literally saying, ‘I have overcome satan and the barrier of sin and have thus, opened the door for you to know Me. I give you intimacy with Me. I am inviting you to relate with Me. You will never be separated from Me. Nobody can ever separate us. Nothing can separate you from the love that I have for you!’ It’s like to ensure we got the point, He repeated it again in verse 29, this time referring to God being greater than all, saying that no one can ever remove you from God’s hand. It’s like as if He’s saying, “In case you don’t believe my palm is a strong enough foundation for you, believe in God’s. You are also in God’s palm and because God is greater than all, believe me when I say that nothing can separate us!” This is simply incredible!
Be that as it may, the ball is on your court. You are the determinant of how deeply you relate with God. It comes down to your choice. Jesus longs to know you and relate with you personally on a one to one basis, but you have to receive and accept this invitation, and draw near to Him. My question for you is, what is your response to this amazing call? Are you taking full advantage of the fact that God is not far away anymore, but you can relate with Him personally? Do you know that intimate relationship with you is what truly He desires, so much that He took all measures to secure this relationship with you to the point that nothing at all can separate you two?
God will not go against your will. He will not force you to enjoy relationship with Him. We have free will and it, thus all comes down to us. Christ has already made the first move. He has destroyed all barriers and has invited us into intimate relationship with Him that is so precious, in that nobody, no circumstances, no powers, no principalities, no demons, nothing can separate us; a relationship that nothing can ever take away.
When you start viewing your relationship with Christ from that lens, it’s amazing how much more you’ll value and hold dear this relationship; how much more you’ll give to know Him more and more, deeper and deeper. This relationship should be our treasure. This is where we should focus our mind and all our attention. Why, you ask? Simply because unlike all other things in this life, Christ can never ever be taken away from us. As 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Respond positively to His invitation today.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for Jesus. I thank you for the cross. Thank you for loving me so dearly that you did whatever it took, even laid down your life, for me to be close to you. You did all this just for me to be able to intimately relate with you and for me to experience just how much you love me. Father, give me a hunger and a stronger desire to know you more and more, just as you yearn to personally relate with me. Thank you Jesus that no matter what happens in my life, I am safe and secure in the comfort of your palm. In Jesus’ name, Amen.