My firstborn daughter was just a little peanut on the day she almost drowned. Everything was sun and smiles at our friends’ backyard pool until she decided to take off her floaties in water that was deeper than she was tall. My mind still possesses a frozen image of her brown hair, shimmering beneath the surface of the pool.

But then my wife leapt into action. She jumped in, still clothed, and lifted our little girl up into the air. Kim rescued her from danger into the oxygen-filled atmosphere. Or, to put it in Bible terms, she “saved” her.

Just like our Father. We too were in danger, in over our heads spiritually. But then Jesus jumped in. Fully clothed in human flesh, he jumped into our world to save us. To rescue us from danger. To bring us to the safest place in the universe—the arms of our heavenly Father.

In some of his best words, Paul wrote, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:4,5). Even before we were his beloved children—because of his kindness, love, and mercy—he saved us.

And because he saved you, you are not in danger. You can breathe the air of God’s presence today, knowing you are safe at your Father’s side. Meditate on what your life would be like if you had no Savior. Then thank God for the fact that, through faith, you do.