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2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, John 6:67-69
Today’s devotional is about this idea that it can be uncomfortable to follow Jesus. The Thessalonians passage is Paul speaking to church in Thessalonica, offering encouragement, and it reads:
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Reading this passage though, I am reminded of a passage from John chapter 6, where Jesus offers up some hard teaching about His real identity and purpose, and He is challenging the disciples’ minds to get them to understand the REAL reality of what’s to come. He did this on occasion, but the disciples struggled to understand until action Jesus had died and returned...it was then that they really started to understand what he was saying before.
And this passage from John is another one of the foundational passages, which encapsulates a foundational idea that I think it really important to faith; because there will be times when maintaining faith is hard. Paul is offering comfort to the church for this very reason. Jesus knew it too, and John captures this moment so well, and the response from Peter, as is often the case, is so powerful:
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
You see that? To whom shall we go? Once you accept the fact that Jesus died, was buried, raised from the dead and appeared to hundreds of people, all for the sake saving you from your sin...what are you going to do, NOT believe that? Just we discussed yesterday, very rarely have I heard anyone deny Jesus because they have real evidence against the resurrection...and rarely do people leave Jesus for that reason. We leave because we are worn out...worn out by trying to do better, by trying to be better, by trying to be more like Jesus. But Paul is offering up encouragement to this church, reminding them that God will hold us and carry us and encourage us and keep us...but we have to pursue that just as we pursue the ‘getting better behavior stuff’. After all, God doesn’t want to behavior, he wants our hearts. When he really gets hold of our hearts, the behavior will happen anyways. Today I am reminded by Peter that when it is hard, I need to remember his words, “...to whom [or to what, or to where] shall we go?”. There is no better life than the life lived for God, under God’s care, and in pursuit of God’s purposes. I shouldn’t get weary...and if I start to feel that way, I need to pursue God for the motivation to carry on that only He can provide.
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By Steve AndersonToday’s devotional is about this idea that it can be uncomfortable to follow Jesus. The Thessalonians passage is Paul speaking to church in Thessalonica, offering encouragement, and it reads:
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Reading this passage though, I am reminded of a passage from John chapter 6, where Jesus offers up some hard teaching about His real identity and purpose, and He is challenging the disciples’ minds to get them to understand the REAL reality of what’s to come. He did this on occasion, but the disciples struggled to understand until action Jesus had died and returned...it was then that they really started to understand what he was saying before.
And this passage from John is another one of the foundational passages, which encapsulates a foundational idea that I think it really important to faith; because there will be times when maintaining faith is hard. Paul is offering comfort to the church for this very reason. Jesus knew it too, and John captures this moment so well, and the response from Peter, as is often the case, is so powerful:
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
You see that? To whom shall we go? Once you accept the fact that Jesus died, was buried, raised from the dead and appeared to hundreds of people, all for the sake saving you from your sin...what are you going to do, NOT believe that? Just we discussed yesterday, very rarely have I heard anyone deny Jesus because they have real evidence against the resurrection...and rarely do people leave Jesus for that reason. We leave because we are worn out...worn out by trying to do better, by trying to be better, by trying to be more like Jesus. But Paul is offering up encouragement to this church, reminding them that God will hold us and carry us and encourage us and keep us...but we have to pursue that just as we pursue the ‘getting better behavior stuff’. After all, God doesn’t want to behavior, he wants our hearts. When he really gets hold of our hearts, the behavior will happen anyways. Today I am reminded by Peter that when it is hard, I need to remember his words, “...to whom [or to what, or to where] shall we go?”. There is no better life than the life lived for God, under God’s care, and in pursuit of God’s purposes. I shouldn’t get weary...and if I start to feel that way, I need to pursue God for the motivation to carry on that only He can provide.