Enjoying the Trip!
Meditation for the week of June 9, 2013
John 14:5-6 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
How would we describe a person who is on a trip but doesn’t know where they are going? How would we describe a person who is on a trip but doesn’t know where they presently are? Wouldn’t those people be lost? I have been so lost a few times that I had no idea whether up was down or down was up. When we are lost, we need help to find our way.
The Lord told his disciples in this passage that he was preparing a place in heaven for them. We don’t know a lot about that place; but we do know from the book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22, that it is a place where there is no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain, no more curse and no more night. Sickness will be a thing of the past, hospitals will not exist, funeral parlors and cemeteries will not be needed. In that place we won’t have to worry about looting and thugs. We won’t have to worry about murder and drugs. That place does not include sinners who are still sinning. Nothing enters that place that will defile it. It has to be a place of unsurpassed beauty and unsurpassed peace. It is a place where we will be able to enjoy the company of other true believers; but more than that, the Lord will be there. I have no doubt that His presence will be the main attraction of that place.
When we see Him, we sill see our Savior, we will see the friend that sticks closer than a brother, we will see His glory which will be manifested by the light that will surround Him. But we will also see the man of sorrows who was acquainted with grief, we will see the lamb as it had been slain, we will see the just one who died for us the unjust that He might bring us to God. Heaven is a wonderful place because of the blessings that are found there. It is a wonderful place because the only other place we can go after we die is a place of judgment and torment. But the main attraction of heaven will be the Lord Jesus Himself.
When the Lord told the disciples that He would be leaving to prepare a place for them, Thomas didn’t understand. He said that they didn’t even know where the Lord was going so how could they know the way! I am confident that Thomas had believed that the Lord was the true Messiah, but he was confused as to what that meant. He could not accept the fact that the Lord was going to die.. After the Lord died, Thomas couldn’t believe that He had been raised from the dead. He was constantly confused because he wouldn’t leave the driving to the Lord and just trust Him. The Lord tells Thomas, “I am the way (to heaven), the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except though me.”
When I go to a new place, I don’t like to get lost. I love it when I can find someone who knows the area and who can take over the driving. That leaves me free to relax and enjoy the trip. Even though Thomas believed the Lord was the Messiah, he certainly was lost when it came to understanding that the Lord had to suffer before He could reign. He wanted to tell the Lord how to do His work rather than relaxing in the fact that the Lord knew what He was doing. But Thomas got all straitened out after the Lord was raised from the dead. The Lord appeared to Thomas and showed him His hands and His side. He told Thomas to be not faithless but believing. In other words, He basically told Thomas that He needed to quit trying to figure things out on his own and He needed to relax and enjoy the Lord’s driving.
This is a lesson we have to learn in order to really trust Christ as our Savior but it is a lesson we have to learn over and over again as we travel that one path that leads to heaven. But learning the lesson saves and it preserves. After all, the Lord is the way, the truth and the life. If we let Him do the driving, we can enjoy the trip and we can be sure of our destination.
Bruce Collins