April 18, 2012

Never Alone

Most mornings I ask the Lord to speak to my need for the day. Most mornings I do not feel particularly needy, but have learned that the day will bring it. Problems and challenges will present themselves. I will need to make decisions or do something for which I have neither ability or knowledge. This morning, He gives me this passage.
And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:17–20)
Sunday’s sermon included this passage with a focus on the command to make disciples. Most Christians are focused on “making believers” as the pastor said, but we cannot make others believe. We can only help those who do believe become learners (disciples) of the ways of Jesus by teaching them what He has taught us.

The section of this passage that catches my attention is the last statement Jesus makes. He is with us always. (The “you” is plural.) The Revised Versions says, “Lo, I am with you all the days.”

This means today, an ordinary Wednesday, Jesus walks by my side. My schedule includes household tasks like doing the laundry and cleaning several rooms. I hope for a few minutes to work on a small quilt that I’m creating for a competition. I’ve a book to finish for Book Club and some calls to make. In all these ordinary things, Jesus is with me. 

F. B. Meyer writes about all the days. He says, “In winter days, when joys are fled; in sunless days, when the clouds return again and again after rain; in days of sickness and pain; in days of temptation and perplexity, as much as in days when the heart is as full of joy as the woodlands in spring are full of song. That day never comes when the Lord Jesus is not at the side of His saints. Lover and friend may stand afar, but He walks with them through the fires; He fords with them the rivers; He stands by them when face to face with the lion. We can never be alone. We must always add His resources to our own when making our calculations.”

And it is also his last statement that catches my attention. Whether greatly challenged or merely ordinary, the Lord Jesus Christ makes my home His home, my chores His chores. He has my back. He offers His help. Nothing is too big for Him, nor too small. He is pleased to be with me in the great and in the ordinary. Because this is so, I can depend on Him regardless, even find that His strength can turn the smallest daily tasks into an act of worship.


Lord, the biggest task of today might be nothing to the normal person, but it is important enough for You to offer Your presence, even Your grace and assistance that I might do it for the glory of God. May I worship You without doubting, even in washing and folding socks, even in deciding what to toss and what to keep. You are here for me as I sew and read. I particularly need You in all interactions with family and friends. As I carry out today’s plan, may all that I do be with Your resources — just as certainly as You are by my side as I do it.

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