Nothing reveals my inner control freak like letting a friend take over the GPS while I drive. Accustomed to seeing each upcoming turn on Google maps, I assault my passenger-navigator with questions: When is my next turn? How much longer on this road? How many miles until we’re there? I’m sure my gracious navigator wishes I would shut up and drive, trusting that we are on the right road, and she will get us to our destination safely.
Thomas is a bit like an angsty driver in today’s passage. Jesus holds the GPS: “I am going away to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). But Thomas needs more details, a specific address: “‘Lord,’ Thomas said, ‘we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?’” (v.5).
Jesus’s answer to Thomas was simply, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (v.6, emphasis added). He did not provide Thomas with a specific address, but Jesus did point to the road that would get him there.
This is a reassuring promise to a control freak like me, and it’s as much a promise for the life to come as it is for our lives today. So often I feel like I need to know my exact destination and then figure out how to get there. Where is my career headed? How do I mend this broken friendship? Where will I live when my lease is up? Jesus may not provide specific answers, but He has asked us to believe and trust in the way He’s paved for us.
Where is my career headed?
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
How do I mend this broken friendship?
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Where will I live when my lease is up?
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Want to know where your life is headed? Follow the way of Jesus. Live life in the way He told us to live it. Believe in God, believe also in Christ, and you will get to where you’re supposed to go.
Living in the way of Jesus is counterintuitive for those of us who like to both drive and hold the GPS. It requires surrender. It requires us to trust our navigator. When we do this, however hard it may be, we’re able to be present on the journey without worrying about the destination.
Though we cannot point to it on a map, ultimately, we know where are headed. Perhaps we don’t know how long it will take us to get there, but one thing we know for sure: Christ our Lord has prepared a place for us there, and He is coming back to receive us to Himself (v.3). For that promise, let us say, Praise be to God!
I love to this devotion by Andrea. In a nutshell to what she said: I will get to where I’m supposed to. All I need to do is follow Jesus because He is the way the truth and the LIFE.
Susan, please know this: *there is nothing that can take away your salvation, not even your own sin.*
If you believe that Jesus is the only way to an eternal relationship with God, your salvation is secure. If you have acknowledged to God that you are a sinner in need of a savior, and you trust that the only one to save you is Jesus, you are God’s forever. When we believe and trust Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only way to have eternal life with God forever; sins past, present, and future are null and void in God’s eyes. He sees you as righteous and holy. Jesus blood washes you clean. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, there is nothing you can or cannot do that will take away God’s promise to you of eternity with Him.
Romans 10:9
Romans 8:38-39
John 10:28
The passage you are talking about is about those people who have never acknowledged Jesus as Lord, nor accepted Him as Savior.
Today was very effective for me. I have a hard time surrendering and letting Jesus take control. Thank you SRT
Susan, Revelation 21:8 is referring to unbelievers, not one who is saved by faith in Christ. In Christ we have His righteousness and are completely acceptable, not detestable. In Christ we are loved and His children. In Christ we are Gods handiwork and seated with Him in the heavenly realms. There are many more verses stating who we are in Christ! ❤️ (Ephesians 2:1-10, 1 John 3:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21)Maybe this will help: https://www.gotquestions.org/second-death.html
Where will I find a job?
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
Where should I live?
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
Should I continue to pursue this relationship?
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
Jesus is the answer. It’s not my job to calculate the route as much as I would like to. I am only to pay attention and follow where he leads. One thing I like about the GPS analogy is that when I use it on my phone, I can only see about 100 yards ahead on the map and sometimes that really bothers me because I want to look farther ahead to see what roads are coming up. But I can only do the next step, the step right in front of me. God doesn’t give me the whole map. He gives me one direction at a time and asks me to be obedient in that.
One word that I have been focusing on this year is UNFOLD. I am not a patient person. I like to rush and manipulate the outcome so that it gets here faster but God asks me to wait and to trust him. I have seen his plans for me unfold like never before this year and in ways I could never imagine.
Unfold is a beautiful word. One I’d like to slow down enough to see more in my life. Thank you for sharing your comment!
I needed to read this today. He IS the Way, He IS the Truth, He IS the Life. I can trust Him to lead me, I don’t need to do it on my own or on my terms even, His terms!
Control…we have issues with this word. We want to be in control but we’re not and accepting that fact could be one of the greatest things! Stepping away from the control panel, so to speak, gives God the opportunity to step into the spot He longs to have in our lives and then Jesus can navigate as we trust, follow and obey the directions given.
Is no one else concerned about the passage in Revelation 21:8 “But the cowards, faithless, detestable…- their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”? Does God see me as a coward when I shrink away from sharing my faith, or don’t stand up to someone who is committing a wrong? Does that make me faithless and detestable in God’s eyes? Am I willing to risk my eternity to find out? This verse stopped me in my tracks! It’s GO time! Pray that I will be able to stand firm in my faith when put to the test. That I will be ready to give an answer for the Hope that I have. Have a Hallelujah Friday!