A Strong Tower Of Salvation
Life. Life has so many different facets. Just think of all that you have experienced, joy, sorrow, beauty, pain, expectation, loss of hope, trust, fear, and the list goes on and on. Everyone of us seek and cling to the “positive” times of life. Those times when everything is going smoothly and life is good, it all seems to be in our favor. We have the perfect job, everyone we know loves and appreciates us, our tummies are full and yesterday, today, and tomorrow is a sunny vacation. In reality, we know that this is not the way life goes. The difficult times will come: our boss lets us go, a loved one dies, a family member seems to turn against us, the loan comes due, the car hic-ups for the last time, we are searching under the couch cushions for grocery money, and everything we touch seems to turn to dust. These difficulties may come so “deep and heavy” that we feel like we are buried without a hope of ever “breathing” again. Have you experienced this? Are you experiencing this right now?
Friend there is hope for you! You may not be able to remove the difficulty in your life, but you can “run” to a tower of hope. In Proverbs 18:10 we read,
“The name of the LORD is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and is safe.”
Flip back to Psalms 61:3 and you will find,
“For thou hast been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.”
How is the name of the Lord a strong tower? How can we run to it and be safe? And who is this enemy? These are great questions and as we answer them, may the Lord open your heart to the hope you can find in Him. A hope that stands against the fiercest opponent for we are promised in His Word, “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”
When you hear the words, “strong tower” what pictures does it bring to your mind? I think of the Middle Ages, a time of castles, knights, danger, and battles. I picture a tower of stone built on a hill surrounded by fields, and in those fields peaceful working peasants, harvesting their grain so that they would have food to survive the winter. They always work within sight of that strong tower that stands on the hill. I think of an urgent warning sounded to the coming of danger, and all the peasant folk dropping their tools and running toward the tower, a place of safety from whatever is coming. How about the strong doors closing as the last person enters separating them from the impending evil? All this followed by the assurance that they are safe because they have made it into the strong tower. In fact, we find a portion in scripture that describes this very thing:
“But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.” Judges 9:51.
We can see that safety is in that tower. Remember back to Proverbs 18:10 “The Name of the LORD is a strong tower…”? So, the Lord Jesus Christ needs to be the tower that is in your and my life. Most importantly, He must be our tower of SALVATION. Scripture makes it clear that we are all born sinners and we are in need of a Savior.
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
Jesus came, and because of His love for you and me, paid the price for our sins as it tells us in Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Praise the Lord for who He is and what He did out of His love for us. Now how can we have this great salvation? Again, we find in Romans
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Whosoever means anyone. Anyone who recognizes the sinful life they are leading. Anyone who is sorry for and repents or turns away from their sin shall be saved.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10
This strong tower on the hill, He is your salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is your only hope. Without Him as a strong tower – your strong tower, you would be separated from God and spend an eternity in hell.
My friend the choice is yours, are you willing to heed the alarm I am sounding for you? Are you willing to run to Jesus Christ the “Strong Tower” for your soul? Don’t delay, your enemy is seeking whom He may devour. Climb into Jesus, find safety within His walls.
“…whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Acts 2:21
The wonder of what you gain from Jesus, your Strong Tower, firstly is your salvation from sin, and then as you grow as a Christian, as you grow in Him, you will find that you continue to face trials in your daily walk. Your Strong Tower, Jesus is available to you as each trial comes. He offers to you, strength, joy, power, and a perspective over your problems that you never had before.