ADVENT BLOG Named by God - “Saviour”

“That is why we labour and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, and especially those who believe.”

(I Timothy 4: 10)

Every profession, organisation and institution has its own language - jargon.  It can open up new ways of understanding its work and what it seeks to do but, it can also be a barrier to those who are not “in the know”.  Every year new words and phrases are being added to the dictionary as words and phrases change and adapt.  Yet, it can be confusing to the uninitiated!  It is not the first time that I have asked at a meeting what a word, phrase or even abbreviation means.

The church and, dare I say it, ministers are guilty of this too.  It is all too easy to assume that folk know what a word means or understand what a minister is trying to say.  Let’s just not go there!

“Saviour” is a word and a title used often but, do we really understand it or do we, at times, overcomplicate it?  It can come across as “jargon” or “religious speak”.  This is why I would go for the simplest of explanations that speak of one of the most profound truths at the heart of our faith and that is that God in Christ saves us from ourselves and the consequences  of our actions.  It is the same when it comes to actions of others as well as the perils we experience in the created order itself.  This act of being saved is not an insurance policy that we won’t let others down, that others won’t let us down or even that calamities and crises won’t happen.  It does assure us that whatever happens, it won’t be a barrier to our ultimate wellbeing and that peace we so long for in this life and in the life to come.

Saviour is mentioned some 157 times in the New Testament yet, it is only here that it is being applied to “all people”, not just the people of God because we are ALL God’s people and he wants to save each and every one of us from self, from others, from all calamities.  It is a gift for the taking, offered to all who will reach and receive.

What do you need to be saved from?  What calamities and crises are you wrestling with?  What does it mean to “hope in the living God”?

Lord Jesus, I come to you just as I am.

I reach out to you only to find your reaching out to me.

Please come into my heart as my Lord and Saviour.

Take complete control of my life

and help me to walk in your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer.

AMEN