You still have your salvation!

I was listening to Pastor Mark Driscoll the other day and he was teaching from 1 Peter 1:3-9 which state: All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

Many of us have heard the scripture from James 1:2-3 that says: Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. Pastor Mark uses the scripture from 1 Peter to really drive home the point that we usually take from this scripture in James; regardless of your circumstances you should rejoice.

You lost your wife?? Rejoice! You lost a child? Rejoice! You lost your job, health, dog, parent's, etc...? So what, you should rejoice!!

I'm sure, at this point, you're wondering why anyone would rejoice in these circumstances. The answer is at the end of the passage from 1 Peter; your reward is your salvation. You should always rejoice because you can't lose your salvation. He has saved us.

Sure there are tough times ahead. No one ever said that being a Christian would be easy but, at least, we know our reward! When it comes right down to it what else is there.

I don't want this to diminish our grieving process as humans. We will have hard times, but if we turn to God's Word He shows us what is really important and we should rejoice. Jesus didn't die in vain - He conquered death, rose from the grave and saved us from our sins. Rejoice! Today is the day that the Lord has made!!

Enjoy the ride.