The Promise Few Want but All Need
God’s warnings are not meant to condemn but to protect, guiding us to the life found only in Jesus.
Devotional Credit: Day by Day by Grace by Bob Hoekstra
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Bob Hoekstra reminds us today that not all of God’s promises are immediately welcomed by the human heart. We delight in promises of freedom, rest, and purpose. These sound like water to the thirsty and shade to the weary. Yet some promises are sobering, even uncomfortable, because they expose the seriousness of sin and the consequence of rejecting Jesus. These are the “unpopular” promises, but they are no less true and no less necessary in God’s plan.
Jesus spoke one such promise in John 8:24. Twice He warned, “You will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am He.” It was not said to burden or condemn, but to make plain the truth of sin’s outcome apart from Him. From the garden of Eden onward, God made clear that sin results in death. The prophets, apostles, and now Jesus Himself spoke the same truth. Denying it does not erase it. Ignoring it does not soften it. Sin leads to death, and apart from Him, there is no escape.
Yet the warning comes wrapped in grace. For the same Jesus who warns is also the One who delivers. He declares Himself “I AM,” the eternal Son of God, the same God who revealed Himself to Moses. To believe in Him is to step out of death into life, out of sin’s penalty into His freedom. The unpopular promise turns into the most liberating one when we receive Him as Savior.
Hoekstra’s reflection draws us to see the goodness of God even in His warnings. Just as a loving parent warns a child of danger, the Lord does not hide the truth of sin. He lays it bare so that we may run to Him and live. The promise is serious, but it is not without hope. In Jesus, the door out of death into life stands wide open.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
My child, I speak to you plainly because I love you. Sin is not harmless. Its end is death. The soul that sins will die. But you are not left without hope, for I have made a way. In Jesus, I have provided the escape from death into life.
Do not see My warnings as rejection. They are invitations to run into My arms. I am not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. When My Son declared that unless you believe you will die in your sins, He was pointing you to Himself, the One who is the resurrection and the life.
You are no longer bound by sin’s wages, for in Him you have eternal life. You have been transferred out of darkness into light, out of condemnation into justification, out of death into life. Every promise of warning is fulfilled in His finished work, so that you may live in the freedom of being united with Him forever.
Scripture References: John 8:24, Romans 6:23, Genesis 2:16-17, Ezekiel 18:20, Romans 3:23, John 8:58, Exodus 3:14, John 11:25, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Colossians 1:13, Romans 8:1-2, 1 Peter 2:24, 2 Peter 3:9.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of a road sign warning of a bridge out ahead. At first, the message feels harsh and inconvenient. It interrupts your journey, forces you to turn around, and tells you something you may not want to hear. But that warning is the very thing that saves you from driving into disaster. Without it, the journey would end in destruction.
In the same way, the Lord’s “unpopular” promises are actually mercies. They point us away from the path that leads to death and redirect us to the life that is in Jesus. Today, if I face a temptation to minimize sin or treat it lightly, I can quietly yield and say, “Lord, I trust You to live Your life through me right now, keeping me in the path of life You have already secured.”
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, I thank You for loving me enough to tell me the truth. Sin leads to death, but You have delivered me from that destiny through Jesus. I rejoice that I am no longer under condemnation, for in Him I have eternal life. I rest in the confidence that even Your hardest words are spoken to bring me into life. Thank You for every warning that points me to Your Son, and for every promise that anchors me in hope.