My road to freedom has involved walking with God. I mean literally walking WITH God along a road near my house—just me and God along Apple Road. As I walk, I usually take verse cards with me. I pray . . . I cry . . . I talk.
Colossians 2:6-7 is written on one of those verse cards:
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” NASB
This verse reminds me what it takes to walk with God, to abide with Him.
Apple Road is a quiet road except for the one neighbor in a blue pickup who drives up and down several times a day. I’m sure he sees me, mumbling to myself with tears running down, holding little white cards in front of my face. Well, I’m glad I can give the blue pickup man something to talk about at the local cafe!
After walking my path along Apple Road hundreds of times, I was surprised one day when I see spotted something new . . . something I hadn’t noticed before. (Something besides the blue pickup.) On that day, with Colossians 2:6-7 running through in my head, I turned the corner on Apple Road and was given a sign. Not a vision of wonder, an actual SIGN . . . just a little white sign on a fence post.
Witness Post, it read, and below that, the words, Please do not disturb nearby survey marker. For more information write NE Dept. of Roads . . . . (Oh, and the blue pickup did drive by as I was scrambling into the ditch to get a closer look at the sign!)
Somewhere under the dirt and gravel or maybe in the asphalt at the corner—I’m not sure because I can’t see it—a marker has been set permanently. It’s a fixed marker, so that if anyone ever needs a reference point, if they need to set a course, if they need to get their bearings . . . they go to the survey marker.
The Witness Post reminds us of that fixed point.
And Colossians 2:6 reminds me of my fixed point: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord . . .”
There was one time in the history of time on earth when a survey marker was set to determine life and death. One man—God’s Son—drove that marker of Truth by giving up His own life as a sacrifice for the sin of each and every person. Never before or since has anyone with the power and privilege of freedom submitted himself like that.
As Jesus’s enemies taunted Him,
as the Roman guards mocked Him,
as the thieves on either side of Him derided Him
and as the forces of Satan plotted to destroy Him . . .
the host of heaven waited to rescue Him.
With one whispered prayer, He could have called the most spectacular and glorious rescue squad ever seen. Every part of Jesus’s physical being should have driven him to save himself. In saving Himself, Jesus could prove His power . . . His detractors would be silenced.
But . . . in dying, He would become a sacrifice for the sin of the world.
Jesus could save himself OR He could save us.
He had to choose.
For those of us who have reason to feel rejected or abandoned . . .
for those who are unloved or lonely . . .
for those who are just tired and stressed out . . .
for ALL of us who live bound rather than free . . .
know this:
On that day, Jesus chose YOU! He CHOSE you.
When you accept that—when you receive Him as Lord and King in your life—a marker of truth is set in your life. You begin a relationship with Jesus, the One who chose you. No one can dig it up or pull it out. Jesus Himself is the authority to hold you steady, to give you a new course in life.
God’s Word is our witness post. It reminds us that a survey marker has been set in our lives. When we read the Word, God’s Spirit confirms what is true about who God is and who we are.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”
Pause for reflection:
How often do you spend time alone with God and His Word?
What markers has God placed in your life as a witness of His work within you?
How does knowing Jesus chose YOU affect the way you view yourself?
Equip Her 