“But what is the divine response to him? ‘I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.’”
Romans 11:4
If I were to interview some of those seven thousand men who did not bow their knees to Baal, and ask them to describe instances where they refused to bow, I would probably hear some wonderful stories of heroic faith in the face of oppression and persecution. They might tell of times when a way of escape was opened. They might tell of sufferings they endured. No doubt there would be testimonies of God’s faithfulness and examples of how specific scriptures fortified and bolstered their faith in times of desperate need. I bet there would also be confessions of temptation and wavering – when competing desires between survival and obedience, the acceptance of man and the honoring of God, were at war. There may have been, from the perspective of these men some very “close calls” where it seemed they had barely escaped, or almost succumbed.
Yet God testifies that each of them was being kept ultimately by God Himself. He kept them, and He kept them for Himself – according to His gracious choice.
Thank God that I am kept by God, for God, and through His gracious choice. As I strive against sin, as I strive to see more of the glory of Christ, as I avail myself of all the means of grace, I can rest assured that my progress and my success are assured not by my taking hold of means (as necessary as means are) but rather because I have been laid hold of by Christ. I can strive with all my might because God is the God of my strength. I can endure weakness because God often preserves my faith through weakness. In all respects I am kept by God, for God, and by His grace.
Amen!
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