Joel 2:32 — But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Do you have speed dial on your phone? If you press and hold the number 1 on your phone, whose number does it dial? For the believer, God should be number 1 in his speed dial directory.
From the beginning of human history, there has been trouble. First, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were exiled from the Garden of Eden. Next, Cain murdered his brother Abel. The Bible says that it was about this time that people began to call upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26).
Throughout the life of Abraham, he called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:8; 13:4; 21:33). Abraham, the man who God had called to live by faith, called on the name of the Lord for help and direction.
David was another man whom called on the name of the Lord. Near the end of his life, David composed a psalm in which he said, “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears” (2 Samuel 22:7). Faced with enemies and distress, David had someone to call.
Why do we wait to call on the name of the Lord? We search the Internet for answers that only God can provide. If we are prone to trouble, as the Bible says we are (Job 5:7), we ought to be proactive in calling on the Lord and asking him to save us from our daily troubles. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” is a wise believer’s prayer. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved today.
11/16/2024 Devotional
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Although my own suffering seems trivial in comparison with those people in Bible, I too strive to extract meaning from it. I began with the biblical promise that suffering can produce something worthwhile in me. I go, through a least like that in Romans, 5, where Paul mentions perseverance, character, hope, and confidence. "How does suffering accomplish these?" I ask myself. It produces perseverance or steadiness by slowing me down and forcing me to turn to God; it produces character by calling on my reserves of inner strength. I continue through the list, asking how God can be involved in bringing meaning to the suffer…