"In Him Alone!"

"In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God." (Psalms 62:7) I know that we would like to take some credit, after all, we do try to be His faithful children, and want to think that counts towards something, as it should; but when it comes to our salvation, we have nothing to boost in, it's all about God's mercy and grace! I could not help but think of the 'Prodigal Son' illustration that Jesus gave (Luke 15:11-32), and how the other brother reacted when the father was celebrating the return of that wayward son; he acted as if he was getting cheated because his father never threw him a party, and he had always been faithfully working for his father. It kind of reminds me about the 'Sheep and Goats' parable from Matthew 25:31-46; in it, Jesus illustrates two very important things, which is not really about works, it's more about compassion and caring. Neither the sheep nor the goats were aware of their circumstances; the goats asked, "When did we not feed you, or cloth you, or look after, or visit you in prison?"; while the sheep asked Him the opposite question, saying, "When did we feed you, or cloth you, or care for you, or visit you in prison?"; neither one was aware of the circumstances of their actions or lack thereof, because the sheep were focused on helping others, while the goats made it all about themselves. The son that stayed home and faithfully worked for his father, he always was the one who shared all that his father had, and he could have cooked up some steak any time he wanted to; but the prodigal son, he was lost and had squandered all of his inheritance, but he never stopped being his fathers son! It's not about us, how we work at doing this, or even how we squander it all; it's about the God that loves us and cares for us; and it's about what we can do to please Him, not because we are going to receive some kind of award, but because we love Him too. That prodigal son, when he came to his senses, he did not feel worthy of his father's love; but his father was not having any of that, it was not up to the son to cut off the relationship, it was up to the father...
"Let all the world look to Me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by My own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on My word: Every knee will bend to Me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to Me. The people will declare, "The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength." And all who are angry with Him will come to Him and be ashamed. In the LORD all the generations of Israel will be justified, and in Him they will boast." (Isaiah 45:22-25)NLT