Crayons For Jesus


Wednesday, February 4, 2009 Print E-mail
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away…” John 16:1

The world values appearances over truth. Too often, Christians get sucked into this value cycle. We would rather hear what is beautiful over what is true. This builds a false sense of security and promotes a bloated cloud of pride. The world also sets us up for disappointment, promising one thing and failing to deliver. Christ is completely honest with it all and will deliver fully on all that He has promised.

In the sections preceding and following this verse, Jesus perfectly describes the world as it is. He knows the battle we will be up against for our entire lives. From the beginning, He has always called things just as they are. This is exactly what caused the high priest’s feathers to get all ruffled, but it is exactly what is necessary for our hope to be perfected.

Christ tells us it will be difficult. Christ tells us we must lose ourselves. Christ tells us there will be heartache. Christ tells us we will be hated. If an organization proclaimed all the bad you would experience by joining it, you would not be inclined to join. The world, instead, tries to deliver what it cannot by ignoring what it is. Christ says exactly how it will be, but directs you onward to hope.

The world cannot deliver- Christ can. And we can trust that he can because he has accurately given us a picture of reality. He is no genie; he is more – the deliverer of humanity. Christ has already delivered himself unto us.

It will be rough, but his prediction of the hardships should cement in us the hope that He will deliver on his promise of eternity. He did not proclaim the truth to squash hope, but to perfect it. He reminds us in v. 33 of this chapter that it is not so that we give up, but that we have heart because He has already overcome the world.

He lays it all out there so that we know just what we are getting into by surrendering our life to Him. This is so that it can be what it was truly designed to be: genuine. He lays it out as it is so that we can have something the world can never deliver on: complete freedom and joy. It is so that we might truly experience the depth of a relationship with Him and ultimately, so that we may not fall away.

It won’t be sunshine and roses all the time – that’s not what He’s promised for this lifetime. He lays it out in these few chapters how it will be. He’s been honest so that you might not fall away. To continue to focus on His honesty than to rely on the world’s deception is eternal life. Why settle for a farce of true life by Earth’s standards, when you can have true eternal life with Christ?


Dear Lord,
We pray that everyday you will open our eyes more to the truth of you. That our hope in you would be perfect. Lord, let the hope of eternity and the truth of your presence wash over us in the moments of frustration. Bring hope. Help us to lay down our sorrows and disappointments in order to pick up the eternal joy that you have promised us. Fine tune our hearts to hear your calling us onward. You deliver us from the darkness but what’s more is that you place us on a pedestal. That this truth would reign completely over us is our hearts’ cry. Protect us from falling away. You never said it would be easy, but you promised it would be worth it. We trust your promise and praise you for it. Let the intimacy of a relationship with you unjade our hearts as we move closer daily to you. In Your name, Amen.