Day 51 - Issue 24
John 18:4 NLT
'Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them.'
It’s seldom I can say I know everything that’s going to happen to me. I remember as a youngster, when I knew I’d done something mischievous yet ultimately wrong, how I did all I could to cover my tracks. I wanted to throw the ‘grown-ups’ off the scent. I became a great avoider not just of consequences but, more worryingly, the harsh realities of life. There are some incoming tides we can’t outrun.
Over the next ten devotionals, we will walk with Jesus leading up to his death. Knowing the reality of resurrection, it can prove too easy to process Jesus’ journey in the light of the cross. Yet, every journey of uncertainty can only be worked out in each of its many moments. I thought that together Katey and I might wrestle MS to the floor and overwhelm it. This was one flood tide that swept us off our feet, tossed us around as if we were unimportant flotsam and jetsam. We had no control over our destiny, cast adrift in a turbulent tide, carried with the current. In that chaos we had either to give up and drown or gather our thoughts and prepare for every eventuality from miraculous healing to final destruction.
Being an adult involves learning to take responsibility for consequences, even when they were not a direct result of our actions. Reacting to the apparent injustice of our situation seemed ridiculous when considering Jesus’ journey of sorrow. Jesus had found the resilience to make his way to an excruciating death, confident in his ability to endure, constantly focused on his Father in heaven. It took me too many years to become an adult, well into my 40s. Adulthood has little to do with age beyond biology. It has everything to do with discovering how to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Together we will explore the Jesus way and reflect upon our way. Death certainly concentrates the mind, as do unanticipated reverses through life. On this final push to Easter, let’s reconsider how grown up we are in our discipleship.
QUESTION: Are you able to find the grace to look to God even as you hold all future possibilities together?
PRAYER: Loving Father, mature me and grow me into the likeness of your Son, Jesus Christ.
