Unconditionally Christ’s
Martha Olawale
“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?” Romans 8:35
The best hour of my life was that afternoon when I placed my hands in the waiting hands of Jesus. Although my young heart had to weave through many curves to reach that point, it received grace from Calvary’s stream. Since then, life has had meaning, and despite the many hurdles of each day, I’m unrelentingly loved.
Christ’s presence in your dark alley makes it a dancing ground, and His touch on your soul tingles your senses in the most precious ways. When you become a Christ follower, the world makes sense, and everything that was once blurry becomes clearer. It’s like walking in a dark room all your life and having the light turned on suddenly. You hear, see, and feel in a way that nothing else in the world can make you do. Although it will take a lifetime for your eyes to adjust to the glory of His majesty, His tenderness keeps you steady.
It’s not where you were that determines the miracle; it’s who you are now walking with. You could have been a prostitute, murderer, or a plain old religious girl like I was. Regardless of your circumstances, you are no longer alone from that moment on, and the weight once heavy on your soul becomes lighter. Your response to the cross becomes the response to whatever you go through in life because the saving power of the cross becomes your daily help.
The world can question your choice to walk away from the dissatisfaction of your separation from God, but you know that what you once had is incomparable to what you received from Calvary. In verse 31 of Romans 8, Paul asked, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things?” He said that because He has tasted and seen the fullness of walking with Jesus and knows that nothing in this world compares to the satisfaction of it.
I am unconditionally Christ’s. He is my help, my shield, my surety, my fortress, my King, and my Savior. I’ve been in the lows and highs of life and seen His presence, love, and faithfulness break through the thickest fog. At war, He fights for me; in the billows, He anchors me. To follow Christ is to be rested in the storm and to fight without lifting a limb because He gives His angels charge over me.
If I have to sit on the mountaintop, let me sit there with Christ; if I have to walk through the valley, let me walk through it with Christ; if I have to search in the dark, let me do so with Christ as my guide; if I have to choose a lamp, let its light shine on Christ; If I have to live, let me live with Christ; if I have to die, let me die in Christ.
