This morning I was reminded of one my anchors. You know, those truths . . . those people . . . those things that you can count on and be sure of. I really don’t know how people keep on keepin’ on without some solid ground in their life. Sure, riding a roller coaster can be kind of fun and exhilarating (I say in theory, ’cause I don’t get on things), but I’m guessing that after awhile, even if you think you desire to (or are required to) get back on the ride, that it’s kind of nice to stand on solid ground every once in awhile. And it doesn’t do you much good to get off a boat after an extended time in stormy seas and try and get your “land legs” back if you end up walking into an earthquake . . . it’s not just getting back on ground . . . but it’s got to be stable ground. A simple, but profound verse, in Hebrews 13 is such solid ground . . .

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8

How’s that for an anchor? How’s that for some stability? Looks like some solid ground to me.

It reminds me that Jesus is God. To be the same always . . . or immutable . . . aka unchanging . . . is an attribute owned by God alone. “For I am the LORD, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6) . . . “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17) . . . “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.’ ” (Isaiah 44:6) There is no variation with God . . . Jesus is the same always . . . Jesus is God, very God . . . one with the Father . . . and my solid rock.

And I’m also reminded that this unchanging Jesus lives in me . . . for “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20a). Chew on that one again . . . the same yesterday, today, and forever Jesus lives in me . . . He has taken up residence within this redeemed soul. How, if we believe it and continually remind ourselves of it, does it not provide some stability in what may be for many of us a pretty unstable world? How solid is this simple truth about our Lord?

Throughout this book of Hebrews, the writer has seemed to address a group of Jewish believers who are wavering concerning their faith in Christ . . . the honeymoon’s over and they’re being shaken as the impacts and implications of owning Jesus unsettles their lives. No longer accepted within the community of their heritage . . . perhaps persecuted for following this One rejected by their religious leaders . . . they seem to be having second thoughts. And so Jesus has been presented, again and again, as better . . . a better high priest . . . a better sacrifice . . . a better way into the holy of holies . . . the Mediator of a better covenant. And in presenting Him as such, these rollercoaster riding believers are reminded of those who have gone before them by faith . . . and being surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses they’re encouraged to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith . . . to consider Him . . . to put their suffering in the context of His suffering . . . and, to put their unsuitability in the context of the His unchanging nature.

Sometimes I just need to be reminded that He is my anchor and grab on for dear life. Even when my current situation seems to be stable and solid, I need to be reminded that the only true solid ground is Jesus and Him alone.

Praise God for such an anchor . . .

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In ev’ry high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found; Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid Rock I stand — All other ground is sinking sand . . . ” — The Solid Rock, Edward Mote