Thinking As I Write (Type)

Just read a post from a dear friend of mine that has sparked my brain cells. The blog deals with salvation and eternal security.  My take on this has been the same for years. I hold fast to eternal security but it is conditional as well. My condition (not that I'm judge, God is) is a genuine life-changing relationship with God through Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Just walking an aisle and shaking the pastor's hand then getting dunked doesn't automatically mean salvation. I did appreciate the comparison of salvation to marriage. Our Americanized version of marriage may be as weak as our Americanized version of Christianity though. Hollywood has vividly drawn us pictures of both. How many teenybopper stars have professed to be Christians then as they enter young adulthood seem to abandon everything they learned in Sunday School? Again not judging just looking at outward appearances and actions. Only God knows the heart. But as a youth pastor it is very discouraging as these teen 'idols' flaunt both their beliefs and their new found freedoms and self expressions.  I want to say to them, if you're going to abandon your faith at 18, 19 or 20, please don't preach it before then.  We also see throw away marriages in Hollywood. Marriages that last only a few years, or months or weeks or even days. Neither are true examples of salvation or marriage, yet because they are so public many think they are. Salvation is a journey not a destination. Yes there is a starting point when we realize we are sinners and need a Savior but it does not end there. Just as marriage is more than a ceremony and a honeymoon. Honestly that was a bit of a shocker to me. I have to admit it took many years for me to realize that a marriage relationship takes work. I'm still learning that. Our relationship with Christ also that's some work. I don't believe our works save us, it's all faith. But without our desire to work the relationship with Christ, do we really have a relationship? If we aren't careful we can simply be roommates with Christ and never really know Him. Many people know about Him, but they don't know Him. I believe many live their relationship with Christ vicariously through a spouse, a parent, a child or a grandparent. But God only has children. No grandchildren or even step-children. I write all this to say I believe in eternal security of the believer but that security is found in Christ not ourselves. Once we are in God's hands, on His conditions, nothing or no one can pluck us from them.