Good morning,
Have
you ever wondered why you are here? I have. Why do we have to face
the circumstances that seem to come out of nowhere and threaten us with
failure and defeat? Will we ever know why God gave us life and then
surrounded us with confusion and weakness and frustration that seem so
out of touch with being children of the God of the universe? Could it
be that Jesus, who’s birth we celebrate this week, was faced with these
same questions as he went through the various stages of his life? We
are told that Jesus was tested in every way that we are, yet he never
sinned.(Hebrews 4:18) In fact, John tells us that at one point when he
was praying, Jesus was tempted with the awesome event that was about to
occur and asked “Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ If
the Son of God faced this issue, we can be sure that we will face it
too.
Jesus answered this temptation by remembering the truth of
why he came. He said “But this is the very reason I came!” Jesus came
to join us here on earth to do his Father’s will. Jesus knew that if he
were ever to be the reigning king, he had to become the suffering
servant. What Jesus knew is the same truth that we have available to
us, that every day of this life was planned before he found himself,
warm and cozy, laying in a manger in Bethlehem. Everything about Jesus’
time here on earth was designed in some way to show a watching world
that the God who created them, who gave them choice, who gave them rules
for living, genuinely loved them. He wasn’t their accuser! He sent
this, his Only Begotten Son, to a dying world to save them from the
awful traps that sin had offered them. Jesus’ suffering and death would
be the gateway for all who would trust God enough to live their lives
by faith in the provision that God the Father had made for their
salvation.
Knowing this truth, Jesus also tells us in the same
passage in John that “Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow
me,” What our Father and Savior long for us to do is to follow their
directions and guidelines on a day by day basis now in time, so that
when it is our time to leave this earth for our heavenly home we will be
honored for our willing service throughout eternity. Dear Lord, even
though we were never quite sure what this is all about, help us to
remember we are here as part of your eternal plan.
John 12:26
Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants
must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. 27
“Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from
this hour’? But this is the very reason I came!
Roy Wisner
