Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions.  But now He has reconciled you by his physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him-if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard.  This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

Colossians 1:21-23  HCSB

Small words can be very powerful.  Have you ever made choices in your life and thought, “what if I had chosen differently?”  What if I had not married that cheater?  What if I had chosen the career that my parents wanted me to?  What if I had never strayed from God and His protection?  If is a small word, but very powerful.

Many of us never learned to say the word no and it gets us in a bind.  We find ourselves saying yes to way too many things and we become frustrated and discouraged.  If you have been saying “no” to accepting Christ as your savior, then you may want to rethink that.  No is a very powerful word, but we must know when to use it.

Another powerful two letter word is or.  You can choose eternity in heaven or you can choose eternity in hell.  The word “or” in that sentence indicates a very powerful decision.  One that will effect your eternal life.  That’s pretty important, wouldn’t you say?

Now today, we see one of these  very powerful words nestled in our scripture passage, this is the word if.  If we remain steadfast in God’s love, we will be presented blameless before God.  Our sins will be washed away.  If we choose to live in God’s shelter, we can rest in His protection (Psalm 91).  If we choose God’s only son as our Savior, then we can have eternal life (John 3:16).  If we abide in His word, we are His disciples, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (John 8:31:32).  If we believe  we will be saved, but if we don’t believe we will be condemned (Mark 16:16).  If we practice the works of the flesh, we will not inherit God’s kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21).  If you forgive other people, your Father will forgive you.  If you don’t forgive other people, your Father won’t forgive you  (Matthew 6:14-15).    I could go on and on.

These “ifs” are critical to our salvation.  If we live in close relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, then we can seek refuge in Him.  We can find the peace and joy that God’s word promises.  We can draw from His strength.

Life is short.  None of us know how much time we have here on planet earth.  You don’t want to spend eternity saying, “If only I had trusted in God”.  Turn to God now, before it’s too late.  Trust in Him to take care of all your troubles.  He will do this because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7) We serve a merciful God and He will take care of you, IF you turn to Him.  He will not force His love on you, you have to come to Him.  Trust in Him.  Give all this anxiety that you have over to Him.  If you do this, you can trade it for peace and joy.

Have a great day!