December 29

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. — 1 Cor 1:18 BSB

Has the gospel ever come to you in power? If it has, then it has done something in your life. Has it ever dispelled your doubts and fears? Has it ever made Jesus precious to your soul? Has it brought light, life, liberty, and love into your heart? Has it given you access to the heart of God, granting you a spirit of holy boldness and filial confidence, enabling you to prevail with God, like a wrestler, and receive a blessing from His hands and heart?

It is useless to speak of power if nothing is accomplished. Imagine a manufacturer asking an engineer to build a hundred-horsepower engine. But after the engineer builds it, they find it only produces ninety horsepower, and the work requires a full hundred. The engine, though functional, is ultimately insufficient. The employer would surely say, “This won’t do the work I need. You’ve made a mistake. Take it away.”

So it is with grace. We need a power capable of moving specific weights—the weight of sin from a guilty conscience, the fear of death and hell, the burden of unbelief, and the load of carnality. We face many grievous temptations that make the soul cry, “Lord, I am oppressed, please help me!”

There are heavy weights to lift, enormous stones to roll away from the tomb. The world must be overcome, lusts and passions crucified, the old man of sin mortified, and Satan defeated and put to flight. But beyond all these burdens and enemies, the soul itself must be saved. Heaven must be brought near, hell put out of sight, the law silenced forever, death robbed of its sting, the grave of its victory, and an eternal crown of glory won. Oh, what a mighty work needs to be done in us and for us—a work no man has ever done or can do for himself!