Good
Morning Friends,
It
is the last night of Jesus’ life on earth. He has already celebrated the Last
Supper with His disciples. Soon, He will take them and go to the Garden and
there He will be arrested. Before going to the Garden He spends time in prayer.
It is the longest prayer of Jesus that is recorded. Several things were on His
heart that night, including the following.
“I have given them your word and the
world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the
world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect
them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify
them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have
sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be
truly sanctified.” (John 17:14-19)
There
are times when I wish Jesus would take us out of the world. Life can be pretty
tough. If all those who become Christians could be immediately taken to heaven
it would do away with a lot of difficulty. Or even if we could all move into a
community of just believers. That would take care of many troubles, too.
That’s
not the way God designed life with Him to work. Jesus didn’t pray that the
Father would remove His followers from the world. He prayed that the Father
would protect us here and sanctify us, develop holiness in us.
With
those prayers, Jesus sent His followers into the world. Instead of being taken
out of it, we are sent into it, so that we can be God’s tools to help change
the world.
That
is the prayer of Jesus. That is the heart of God. God doesn’t want us to hide
from the world or seek to become invisible to it. God desires us to be a part
of the world and to influence it. Too often, I let the world influence me, but
God is calling us to just the opposite, to influence the world. That’s why He
has left us here.
His,
by Grace,
Steve
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