God has called you to a life of victory. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57) I do not mean that you will never fail, but that no failure will be final. The cross of Jesus Christ is the final and decisive victory of God over your entire life.
You now face and fight every battle in the light and shadow of the victorious cross. Therefore, be strong and courageous (1 Corinthians 15:58). Have grit, remembering it’s not about how strong you are, but about how long you can endure. God’s promise to you is, “To the end.”
To the end? We might remember the story of Israel and rightly conclude that they didn’t make it to the end. One generation rebelled in the desert and didn’t make it to the promised land. The next generation did make it to the promised land, but in the end Israel was conquered and taken from the promised land. Can I really make it?
Israel didn’t make it, but not because of their disobedience. God is always willing to forgive. It was their unbelief that kept them out—the turning away of their heart from God.
God isn’t after your obedience.
If you live your life feeling that God only wants your obedience, you will live a self-righteous life, feeling you can earn God’s favor. Or you will be crushed, feeling you will never earn God’s favor.
God isn’t after your obedience. He’s after your heart.
How many times did Israel obey God and yet God said their heart was far from him. God didn’t say, “Well, as long as you closely follow the law, your heart can stay far from me.” No. God can have your obedience but not necessarily your heart.
On the other hand, if God has your heart, he will certainly have your obedience. If you love me, Jesus said, you will obey me (John 14:15).
But why would we love Jesus? Because while we were still sinners and disobedient, he loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20). How could we ever turn our hearts away from such a love?
To believe Jesus is one thing. To believe into Jesus is another. It is to give and entrust our heart, to surrender our whole life, to him. Life then becomes no longer about how strong or how weak our obedience to him is, but about how long his obedience endured to God on the cross: to the end.