One of my favorite kinds of books are those written by pastors about being a pastor. In one of them that I read over the holidays, the author said that after a few years of being a pastor he made Matthew 28:10 his theme verse for everything he did as a pastor: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me’.” Jesus says this to his disciples after he has been resurrected, and it contains an important reminder for us as his disciples as we come into a new year: Jesus goes before us.
As a pastor it is important for me to remember that Jesus is present in any and every situation I encounter before I ever show up. There is no circumstance I experience in which he is not already active. And the same is true for all followers of Jesus. In the new year we will all come face to face with all kinds of situations that life throws our way. And we need to remember that Jesus is present with us in each one of them, working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).
So what impact should this have on us? The same one that Jesus’ words were intended to have on his disciples in Matthew 28:10: “DO NOT BE AFRAID.” Those whose faith is in Jesus need not be afraid. Jesus goes ahead of us and walks beside us. He knows the scary situations coming our way before we ever do, and he wants us to hear the same thing he told us his disciples: “THERE THEY WILL SEE ME.” No matter what comes our way this year, we need not be afraid, for Jesus is in the middle of it with us. May we have the eyes of faith to see him.
Ben
monthly resources
Below are some articles I’ve run across this past month that you may find helpful: