Veroni's Views

My life is now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3.3, NIV). That means that my entire life, with all its vicissitudes and victories, along with all of my weaknesses and strengths, fears and joys, is encompassed within God’s grace and mercy, and covered by his love.

It does not mean that I am perfect – far from it! It does not mean that I am superior to any other human being. It does not mean that I am above being temped, or guaranteed to always have my own way. You see, all of the benefits of being “hidden in God” only come through Jesus Christ. So all I can boast about, is that He redeemed me, and gave ne the right to be his child. Gratitude, and not arrogance, is the only response I can realistically have.

It does not mean that I am granted immunity from all the challenges of this life. Jesus himself prayed “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John17.15). However, it does mean that I am given what Gordon Macdonald calls the “resilient life.” The apostle Paul is talking of this resilient life when he says we may be “hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4.8,9).

Even in the eye of the storm, my life is safe, because it is hidden in God. This is expressed in powerful poetry in the Bible:

When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
(Isaiah 43.2)

Another poet, David said
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me
(Psalms 23.4)

All of this comes free, but not cheaply. It cost Jesus his life, and it demands that I commit myself wholeheartedly to Him. “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God” is preceded by “For you have died.” “Died” here refers to complete surrender to the Lord.

Here is the choice you and I are faced with: We “die” now (meaning complete surrender to God), and have the sheer joy of living a life that is “hidden in God”, with the certain prospect of even greater joy and fulfillment for eternity. Or we cling to our “independence” (independently being vulnerable to the uncertainties of life) with the certain prospect of unimaginable suffering when we are eternally separated completely from the source of light and life.

I know what I have chosen.

Are you thinking this is too “mystical”? Don’t fool yourself. You are by definition a mystical being. There are truths that cannot be apprehended intellectually, but only spiritually. And you are not just a machine built out of physical substances that also has a mind. The fact is that there is an element of your being that can only be satisfied by associating with God. So why not acknowledge that, and cultivate that relationship?