Never Plucked!

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” John 6:28

Every hireling tries to tempt the sheep from the Shepherd's side. Today, I think the hireling's name could be Religious-Worldliness. He allures us with the glitter of his silver and gold. Not error sprinkled with truth, but truth sprinkled with error. He invites me to live in this world and have Christ at the same time. He tells me I can serve two masters after all persuading me to walk an easier way, like Bunyan's By-Path Meadow. And as I listen to his new voice, the ancient voice of Christ, which ought to have been my entire world, fades to a whisper.

I am so fickle. So ready to mistake an hireling for a friend. So easily coaxed into By-path Meadow; so free to choose, but so prone to choose wrongly. I plunge myself into a hundred dangers.

Bunyan writes:

The Pilgrims now, to gratify the flesh,

Will seek its ease; but oh! How they afresh,

Do thereby plunge themselves new griefs into!

Who seek to please the flesh, themselves undo.

Yet in this text lay the strength of my heart! “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” As if Jesus was saying: “No antagonist of soul…

man, myth or legend…, no combination of the world, the flesh or the devil;

no great sin, too-deep or too-wide sin, shall ever take you from Me.” Why? Because you’re a “them”. One He loved with an everlasting love. How's that possible? I have no answer other than, it pleased Him.

Yes, He even allows a Doubting Castle and a Giant Despair to take me for a time. And uses them for my good and His glory. Rutherford said, “Doubtings are your sins, but they are Christ's medicines, which as a Physician He maketh use of for the curing of your pride.” So, it’s a sovereign omnipotent Hand that presides, governing by a wisdom that cannot err. Pulsing with a love immovable.

I bless God, that once in Christ, nothing can shake the divine grip of my salvation. Though I am often shaken, and rightly so, I shall never perish.