Jesus is the Way to the Father
Heavenly Father, thank you for this time we have together. I thank You for the many blessings You’ve poured into my life, known and unknown, and praise You for the work you’ve begun in me. Quiet my mind and thoughts, that I can hear only You. Amen.
John 14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
In this age of information, we are hearing more and more about the world’s faith life. Do they believe in God? Do they believe in “our” God? I have heard many people declare that we mustn’t judge other people’s “gods” – how do we know their god isn’t the same as ours? Well, to me, these verses make it very clear. To be called a true Christian, we must believe not only in God the Father, but we must believe in God the Son, Jesus. It reminds me of some conversations I had two years ago.
I had the honor of sharing God’s Word in Kitengela, Kenya two years ago. Our group was there operating a vision clinic – we examined people’s eyes, and determined if they needed glasses. One of the “stations” at the clinic was called “triage”, where we would share the Gospel with Kenyans and pray with them. We would sit and talk (sometimes through a translator, either a Kenyan pastor or “vicar”), and we would ask them if they believed they were going to heaven. We also gave them a coin that had the verse, John 3:16, on it in English on one side and Swahili on the other. Sometimes they were uncertain about going to heaven, and they would say, “Well, I think so”, or “I hope so”. I would ask them why they were uncertain, and they would tell me about their troubles in life – a shaky marriage, or children addicted to drugs, or unemployment. I would ask them to read the coin, and then ask, “Does it say “For God so loved the word that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever “has a perfect marriage” or “is rich” or “has successful children” or “has a great job” has eternal life? J They would smile and say no, the verse says that we must believe that God gave His Son as a sacrifice for us. I would hug them (and usually cry), and then we would pray and take their personal challenges to Jesus’ feet.
We must daily do the same, remembering that God sent His Son for us – it is nothing we do that that secures life in heaven with Him except our faith in Jesus, his sacrifice, and his resurrection.
Heavenly Father, please send your Holy Spirit to remind me daily that Jesus is the only way to you. Make me bold as I walk through this life to share this simple but profound truth. We thank You and we praise You for this gift of love and grace. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
kristi