Cougan Collins
Lone Grove, Oklahoma
I think we all understand the importance of an anchor, especially when it comes to fishing on a boat. If you go out on the lake and you find the perfect fishing spot, you put down your anchor so you will stay in that spot. If you do not, you will drift away from where are all the fish are. Now, not any anchor will do because it has to be big enough to hold whatever size boat you are in. With this in mind, let’s look at what the writer of Hebrews has to say.
Hebrews 6:13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
There is a lot going on in these few verses that we could take a close look at, but for this lesson, I want to focus on the fact that God is the anchor of our souls. We are given the example of Abraham and the great promise God made to him after he was willing to sacrifice his only son, which God stopped from happening. Notice what Abraham was told in:
Genesis 22:15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son — 17 “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Just as God promised, Abraham’s descendants did multiply and all the nations of the earth were blessed. Of course, this was ultimately fulfilled through Jesus and His church. Notice what Paul writes:
Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The reason God is the anchor of our souls in which we can put our hope in is because: He is our Creator and no one is greater than Him; He cannot lie; He always keeps His promises. God is our rock and nothing can move Him. No matter how big the storms may become in our lives, when we use God as an anchor, we will stay right where we need to be. Jesus said:
John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
The world also offers you an anchor, but it is the wrong kind of anchor. It offers you no stability, and the only thing it really does is drag you down and keeps you from having hope, and it keeps you from getter closer to God. It makes about as much sense for a big cruise ship to use an anchor designed for a row boat as it does for a person to use the world as his anchor instead of using God.
If you are using the world as your anchor right now, I suggest you drop it and get the only anchor that will that will bring stability and hope to your life. God is the only anchor that can give you the assurance of eternal life in heaven. So, why not make God the anchor of your soul starting today? I hope you will take the following words from Paul to heart.
Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
