Walking With Christ

John 14:6-7 (6)Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (7)If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”(ESV)

I’m writing this after the fact, but only to say that I woke up this morning with this verse on my mind only to find that it was also the verse of the day in the YouVersion bible app. That has happened a few times and it always freaks me out a bit. The verse of the day on YouVersion is planned out pretty far in advance and there is no way I could have known what the verse for today was going to be until it was released. There have been a few times where I woke up with the verse of the day on my mind.

In context, these two verses are pivotal in understanding the Christian walk. This is part of the conversation with the remaining disciples after Judas left to betray Him at the last supper. The others had no clue what was coming even though Jesus had told them in plain language. They still thought that He was talking a literal journey to a place that they could walk to if they had directions.

I think it’s human nature to ignore or refuse to see some truths. Sometimes it’s easier to believe the lie. The disciples wanted to believe. The soil had been fully prepared and all of the seeds had been planted. They were just missing that spark, that catalyst that would cause miraculous growth in areas that they weren’t even aware were possible to grow in. They had each personally witnessed and even been involved in actual miracles up to and including resurrection. They had seen nearly the full glory of the work Jesus was sent to do first hand. They still didn’t understand.

The final adjustment to their spiritual sight had to be made after His resurrection. The problem was that in a spiritual sense they were all very near sighted. This concept is taken from a sermon I recently saw by Chris Hodges from Church of the Highlands in Irondale, Alabama. The brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus brought the world into sharp spiritual focus for all of the disciples. Suddenly, they could see the things that Jesus had been focused on. They could finally see the truth of His ministry. They could, perhaps for the first time, truly see the lost. The thing is that spiritually we can’t help what we can’t see. We can’t fix the things we are unaware of. Jesus is our spiritual optometrist and the bible is the perfect prescription to help us get perfect vision. We can’t help the lost if we can’t see them. It’s the lost that Jesus came to save. It’s the lost the His entire ministry was focused on. It’s the lost, sick, hurting, grieving, guilt ridden, forgotten, hidden, alienated, abused, and disillusioned that Jesus sees. He saw them. He saw us. He wants us to see them. He wants us to reach out to them as He reached out to us. That is the very heart of His ministry. This is confirmed again in 2 Peter.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.(ESV)

It says, “not wishing that any should perish”. Any. That single word defines the scope of His will. “For God so lived the world…” The whole world. Not just me. Not just you. Not just the children of Israel. The whole world and everyone who has even been or will ever be in it. This is the scope of our call. This is the region His love falls upon. I cannot reach the world. I can hold my hand out to one person at a time. I can help my neighbor. I can help the person in front of me. I can show the love, mercy, and grace that I know has been shown to me, and through that show people the love of Jesus, just as Jesus reflected the heart of the Father through His life. Thankfully, that is exactly what we are all called to do. Not everyone will answer the call. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord for all of our days.