Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day (John 6:54)
Do you live in the present? Or perhaps you long for the past – the good old days? Or do you have hopes for the future? Each could be said to be important in its own way.
I am fascinated by the use of the present tense in Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John. John 6:54 is but one example of numerous times Jesus says, ‘you have eternal life’. Often, beliefs or actions are attached to his statement. But it is constantly a real thing, a present action, something people can grab hold of. We have often tended to talk about the future hope or the reign of the kingdom to come. But Jesus here seems to be saying something different.
There is also the use of the words ‘I am …’ by Jesus in this gospel. You are probably familiar with them. I am the bread of life, the light of the world, the gate, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the vine, the way, truth and life and in John 6:51, I am the living bread.
It seems to me Jesus is making a point. Faith, grace and living with Christ is not something in the future alone. It is not pie in the sky but a living reality. Even Paul picks this up when he says, ‘for me to live is Christ’.
Enjoy your memories – they are important to who you are. Look with confidence and hope to the future – there are bright times ahead. But live in the present grace of God, spoken to you and demonstrated for you in the person of Jesus and refreshed in you daily by the Holy Spirit. Believe in Christ. Enjoy life!
Lord Jesus, we worry about things we have done in the past; we get anxious about the future. Reassure us, Jesus, with your words of grace: ‘you have eternal life’. Amen.
Prayer Points
We pray that God keeps our community safe during lockdown and helps us to continue to learn
We give thanks for the grace of God and his assurance of eternal life
We pray for our Student Support Officers and give thanks for the wonderful work they undertake for the school
We pray for the Pham, Phan and Rengthlang families
Micah Award
To Akec for showing courage to improve the quality of his work.
The struggles each of us are experiencing at the moment are all too real. Many of us have not been able to establish a regular weekly or daily routine. We are living in fear of catching COVID-19 or of exposing others to the risk. We are trying to juggle our own work with helping our children learn at home. We are not able to have the relaxation breaks that are so important in enabling us to function effectively. We are bombarded with fear-mongering news every time we turn on the news or check social media. We have been stripped of the freedoms we have taken for granted. We are just plain tired!
Lockdown fatigue has well and truly hit. It is extremely difficult to make sense of our emotional responses, personal biases, and work and family commitments during this very difficult time. What we all seek is hope! In amongst the chaos that surrounds us, it is easy to forget that we do have hope. We have hope in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are grateful that the hope we have in God far exceeds our earthly hope. Our hope enables us to look forward with expectation and confidence, placing our trust and faith in God’s provision of whatever we need to handle all the situations and events that occur. Hope is open-ended, open to all possibilities and not limited by what we might wish for. Hope allows God to define our lives.
This hope is extremely comforting. Comforting to know that our God is walking beside us, every step of our journey, through the pandemic and always. He is not letting the pandemic define us; instead He is working in us to define us.
As we tune into the daily updates from the Victorian government, we hope to hear good news, but this is never certain. When we turn to God, we hope to hear Good News, the difference being that this is always certain. As we continue to deal with our sixth lockdown, don’t forget to turn to God daily to strengthen your resolve and to renew your hearts.
