Sealed once and for all

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,to the praise of his glory

Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have a promise so great that no one can take it from us. The price that Jesus paid is a price that takes care of every debt we could ever accrue on earth. His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection is the final say on death, hell, and the grave. These truths mentioned above are sealed with the Holy Spirit. You can trust these truths in your daily life. In addition, we must make it a point to understand what being sealed means.

There are two main ways to look at the meaning of being “sealed” by the Holy Spirit. One of them being that the seal protects and preservers us until we fully reach our inheritance when we stand before Him. Similarly, the other main way is that the seal “certifies” that we are fully accepted by God. Much like a wax “seal” would accompany a letter to show the receiver that the sender was legitimate. In addition, we can rest on both of these truths when we face hard times that cause us to doubt.

Let’s be real, COVID has made many of us realize how futile much of what we live for is. Many of the things we used to love, enjoy, and even rely on are no longer available. For some, this can be a very trying time and cause us to blame God. For others, it has been a very beautiful time of being able to slow down and enjoy more time doing things that matter. COVID has forced everyone to slow down. COVID has forecfully removed a lot of the busyness.

In these trying times, we can look towards Jesus for strength and encouragement. We do not have to walk around aimlessly waiting for life to “get back to normal.” Instead, we can let the Holy Spirit work in our lives to take advantage of the new normal in many of our lives. We can allow God’s mighty hand to work through our lives and make this time the best time of our lives. The struggle becomes submitting to God when the “best times” aren’t what we would call best.

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’

C.S. Lewis