September 4, 2024

Passage Read: John 17-18
Meditation Verses: 17:14-18

Thought

Jesus sends His disciples into the world, even though the world hates them. He sends us into the world just as the Father sent Him into the world, to testify of its deeds, that they are evil, and to call them to repentance and faith in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. We need protection from the evil one, that Jesus prays for us. But it is His Word that separates us from the world, even as we live in it. It is His Word that makes the world hate us. It is His Word that makes us holy, just as Jesus is holy and did all things in accordance with His Father's Word.

Application

It is not merely hearing His Word, but believing and obeying it, living by it, that makes us enemies of the world, that makes the world hate us. By our obedience, they are convicted of sin, and by our testimony against their deeds, they are provoked. We were not sent into the world to simply survive, to be tested and proven faithful, but like Jesus, we were sent to save the world, not by dying for the sins of the world, but by telling them of Jesus and calling them to turn away from their evil deeds and to the Lord Jesus, to receive forgiveness and cleansing from sin, but also to receive His words so that they would know how they're supposed to live. I'm actually supposed to share Jesus's Word with others, so that they would be saved from this evil generation, and be made enemies of it! That really does require a shift in focus and hope, setting my heart and calling others to set their hearts on Jesus's coming kingdom and eternity with the Father, giving up the love of this world and the pleasures of this life!