If joy and satisfaction in Christ are requirements for true salvation, then some days I'm saved and some days I'm not. If I cannot be saved without loving Christ perfectly, every minute of every day, then I cannot be saved. If my willingness to sacrifice and my readiness to obey are measures of the validity of my conversion, then my faith is a sham. If ambition or success or any measure of outward accomplishment proves my salvation, then the proof shall be found wanting.
The truth is that some days I seek satisfaction in worldly things. Some days my joy is absent. Some days I feel a genuine love for Christ, and other days I feel nothing. Some days I sacrifice joyfully, and others I grumble and complain. Some days I obey gladly; other days it's like pulling teeth. Some days I am ambitious—I accomplish things and feel "successful." Other days I wonder what exactly I'm doing with my life, and am left feeling like a failure because the only thing I managed to do that day was breathe.
But for all the ups and downs, all the successes and failures, all the joys and sorrows, there is one thing I can do every day. Every day, regardless of how I feel or what I've done, I can say, "Jesus, I'm doubtful. I'm worldly. I'm a sinner. I'm dissatisfied, disinterested and dispassionate. But You died for me. You died to pay the full debt of all my sins. What's more, you lived the life I could not so that I could have Your righteousness as my own!
"You loved God and sought Him perfectly. Your joy and obedience were steadfast and unwavering. Your sacrifice was enough. You accomplished exactly what You intended to accomplish, and You finished the work You set out to do. And all I have today, Jesus, is faith. Small faith in a big God. Weak faith in a strong Savior. Shaky faith set on a firm Foundation. Just faith. All I can bring to You are empty hands and a humbled heart that says, 'I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief.'"
So I'm striving to measure my days and gauge my feelings by the cross and what Christ did there, not in what I can do or how well I can do it. I'm trusting that no matter how weak my grip on Christ, nothing shall separate me from Him nor pluck me out of His hand (John 10:28, Romans 8:38–39). Instead of buckling under the burden of standards I can never meet, I'm placing my hope squarely on the One who met them perfectly on my behalf, the One whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light (Matthew 11:28).
And I'm believing that, no matter how badly or frequently I stumble and falter, my salvation is secure in Him who accomplished it. The requirements have been met. The sacrifice has been made. Obedience was fulfilled and devotion perfected in Christ. The proof is in the empty tomb, in the resurrection, in the approval of the Father: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17), and in the words of Scripture: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, emphasis added). Praise God who made a way where no way was possible—a way paved with grace, walked by faith, and secured by the unfailing love of Jesus Christ!