Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Joel 2:32)

What a comforting thought! There are no souls in hell who love, trust, worship and call on the name of the Lord. When we love, trust in and serve Jesus Christ we are saved. It would be contrary to God’s nature to refuse to hear words of sincere humility and repentance. So why do we forget at times to call on His name?

Those who know me well, know the fondness I have for the words of C H Spurgeon. It just so happened that I came across a passage where he answers this very question, and I couldn’t resist sharing it with all of you.

       “So, why don’t I call on His name? Why do I run to this person or that person, when God is so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down to plot my own course and make my own plans? Why don’t I immediately place myself and my burden on the Lord?

       Straight ahead is the best way to run, so why don’t I run directly to the living God? Instead, I look in vain for deliverance everywhere else but with God where I will find it. With Him I have His royal promise: ‘[I] will be saved.’ And with Him I never need to ask if I may call on Him or not, for the word ‘everyone’ is all encompassing. It includes me and means anybody and everybody who calls upon His name. Therefore, I will trust in this verse and will immediately call on the glorious Lord who has made such a great promise.

       My situation is urgent, and I cannot see how I will ever be delivered. Yet this is not my concern, for He who made the promise will find a way to keep it. My part is simply to obey His commands, not to direct His ways. I am His servant, not His advisor. I call upon Him and He will deliver me.”  Charles H. Spurgeon

So, friends, let us all remember that Jesus promises to deliver those who call on Him. Let’s remember that in all things “straight ahead is the best way to run.” Straight into the arms of the One who created us and loves us beyond measure. There is no better time than right now, as we are in the midst of a struggle, to train ourselves to make the Lord the very first One we turn to in the bad times, and the good. He is the rock on which we stand. He holds the hope and promise of salvation for all who “receive Him…and believe in His name.” (John 1:12)