Better Than Gold

There are some who think that salvation is similar to a present they receive in the mail. While it was good and kind of the Lord to send this gift to them, they imagine that He remains at a great distance from them. Have you ever felt like this? If so, allow me to dispel this false notion and unlock the secret of peace and joy for you!

When the heart of Zacchaeus began to hunger for something better than gold, he climbed into a tree to see Jesus. Jesus saw his desire for a new life of freedom and purpose, and when He reached the threshold of Zacchaeus’ home, He said, “This day is salvation come to this house” (Luke 19:9). But why and how had salvation come there? It was because Jesus—the Savior—had come. Salvation is in Him; He is salvation. In having Him, we have eternal life and every other priceless blessing that God can give (Ephesians 1:3).

Jesus does not send salvation, He brings it. And where He is received, there He abides, saying, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). It is as though He says, “I have sought you so long, and love you so well, that never again will I allow you out of My company and care!” This is salvation—blessed, present, every day, all-the-way salvation. For those who trust in Him, it means to be protected, cared for, and upheld by the ever-present and infinitely tender Savior, who has suffered for our sins, endured all our judgment, broken the dominion of the devil, and lives as the victor over death. 

What a blessed, joyful, vibrant thing salvation becomes when it dawns upon the soul that it is in Christ Jesus—that it is ours because He is ours and we are His. How invigorating it is to know that we are joined to the Lord by everlasting bonds, which no device of the devil nor power of hell can sever. Nothing less than this would suit our wonderful Savior, and nothing less than this could meet our need.

—J. T. Mawson, adapted