There were four of us kids that my parents would put to bed each night.  And after reminding us of Joshua 1:9 which tells us not to be afraid, because God is with us wherever we go, they would say sweetly — “OK!  So no calling out and no getting out of bed.” You have to applaud the effort.  But here’s the thing… when you’re afraid, you run for your parents.  So there were nights, that in the stillness of the dark, I can remember making the mad dash to my parent’s bedroom down a whole eternal flight of stairs and racing to their bedside which felt like base.  The place the terrors from my dream could not reach me. 

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 

I love absolutes.  I LOVE them.  I think because they offer dependability — at least when they come from a trustworthy source.  And I believe (you may disagree, bear with me) that love in it’s most attractive and healthy form, is very clear about expectations.  Love does not leave vague those things that are critical to life.  If I looked at my darling son and told him I knew how he could enjoy forever life, but I wasn’t going to tell him… that would be devastatingly cruel.  So doesn’t it make sense that God would give us the same insight?  If he loves us, knows us, and invites us to know him — wouldn’t it make sense for him to tell us exactly how to find him, know him, and be with him forever?  Doesn’t it make sense, that we can make the mad dash away from whatever threatens our peace and run to our God who delights in us as a parent to a child? 

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” — Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21

Saved from far more than fear, far more even than death… saved from forever separation from himself.  And if he is the one who is Holy, Just and Compassionate, we do not want to be separated from all things that reflect that. 

There are 13 different places in the bible that describe people “calling upon the name of the Lord.”  11 of them are in the Old Testament, before Jesus even entered the scene, before the ultimate rescue plan had seen it’s climax on the cross.  And he always responded.  If a loving parent hears and responds when their child cries out for them, how much more will our God, who claims the title “Father?!” He promises all over scripture that he is with us, he demonstrates that he loves us richly, and not once did he fail to do what he said he was going to do.  We call out to one we trust.  And if we trust him, if we call upon his name… we are saved from the thief of life. 

I think many times we make it harder than this.  We think we need to live differently, or make ourselves more presentable to the God of the universe — as though we could without him.  We think we need to know and understand his Word with thorough recall, or even buy into all of it… but he issues none of these requirements for access.  He simply says to call out to him.  To trust him. 

If you find yourself groaning under the weight of some terrific burden; perhaps you find yourself lonely or maybe you just sense that there is something bigger and more significant than the life you currently embrace… call out to him — and see how he engages with you.