The Gospel of John has always been one of the most popular and beloved books of the New Testament. It is here where Jesus makes some of his most familiar and yet extraordinary declarations about himself, where he says that he is "the bread of life", "the light of the world", "the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep", and "the way, the truth and the life."
This is the gospel that identifies Jesus as the "Word of God" "through whom all things were made". It is in this gospel that He makes the astonishing claim that "before Abraham was, I am" where He confesses that He and the Father are one," and where He tells Nicodemus that you must be "born again". And it is in this gospel where Jesus performed many of His memorable acts: turning water into wine, raising Lazarus from the dead, and washing his disciples' feet.
I love this gospel because it is in this Gospel where Jesus promises the Paraclete, which is Greek for the Comforter or the Holy Ghost. More than anything else, the Gospel of John is hope in the midst of a dying world.
In the selected text, we find Jesus taking time to address the issue of unbelief. In fact we see a variation of the word "believe" five times. And when we see this word it is not only addressing belief in general, but belief or lack of among the Jews, belief or lack of among the chosen of God. There were those who would not believe and there were those who would not openly confess their faith even though they believed. I am not sure which is worse and more of an affront to the Kingdom of God. What I find interesting when we really look at this gospel is that you have people that have been with Jesus, been with the Son of God and still do not confess their belief.
Sometimes we are too consumed with the praises of men instead of the praises of God. There was a time when I was just like the people in this text. More concerned with what people thought than about my relationship with a living God. And this misguided thought, this misguided direction in my life led me to a dismal place. Just like most men, I wasn't going to church. I wasn't praying or praising God. I wanted heaven without the hardship.
Many people reject the truth simply because of the fear of men or women and because they desire to be held in high esteem. They won't accept Christ because they are more concerned with what people will say. It is better to fear God and go to heaven than to fear other people and go to hell. The truthful reality is that the choices we make daily will determine our direction in this life and the next. In essence, the choices we make daily are determining our travel plans.
A couple of years ago my Queen and I were discussing how much we wanted to take a trip to visit my grandmother in Mississippi so that we might enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with her and the family. We booked and received the tickets. However, when we checked the itinerary, we realized that it was completely wrong. The itinerary had her travel dates in January. Now I admit that there are a number of important things going on in the world today, but I am sure I didn't miss the announcement that Thanksgiving would now be celebrated in January. The truth is that they had made a mistake in the booking of the ticket and had her traveling at the wrong time and the wrong date. They had it all screwed up.
This experience taught me something. Make sure that you check your itinerary. Your itinerary gives information about yourself. If you were to look at my itinerary it would tell you where I was leaving from and where I was expected to arrive. It would tell you who I was traveling with, as well as the dates of travel & times of travel. It also tells one other interesting thing- it tells you the cost of your travel. My brothers and my sisters we have to check our itineraries from time to time.
We have to know our destination in this world and the next. Not one of us is perfect (Romans 3:23). There is a price for our sins (Romans 6:23). We have to know that Jesus has paid a price for our sins and because of this, we can gain some comfort in knowing that whatever it is that we are going through, our belief in Christ will bring us through!
We must be compelled to check our spiritual itineraries. And look for answers to these most important questions:
Where you are leaving from: we all have something in our past that we wish no one would ever know about. But Praise God! We do not have to be concerned about where we are leaving from because our faith lets us know that our destination is based on our belief in Christ!
Henry and Tom Blackaby in their book "The Man that God Uses", write that "All it takes to appreciate the light is to spend time walking in the darkness." (Page 43).
Where you are expected to arrive: The destination is left up to all of us. Just like the time travelers in the movie entitled "Back to the Future", we can choose where we are going to go. Shall we live in the past? Or change the future? Will our destination be in heaven with the King of kings and Lord of lords?
Who you are going with: We are going to heaven to rejoice with all of the children of God!
What are your dates of travel and times of travel: Once we accept Christ, we have open ended tickets. We don't know when, where or how, but we do know the conductor of the trip. By placing our faith and belief in Christ, we can be assured that we will arrive safely to our spiritual destination.
It tells you the cost of your travel: Jesus paid the price for us all. All we have to do is get on board.
Continue to trust in the Lord and the Lord will direct your path (Proverbs 3: 5-6). |
