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Wednesday February 28 - Knowing eternal life
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3
To the unenlightened onlooker, praying might be misconstrued as the need to inform a distant deity about temporal needs here on earth.
In 1 Corinthians 2:16, Paul asks the question, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ and then goes on to say, ‘But we have the mind of Christ.’ This is an amazing work of the Holy Spirit!
I take licence in Christianising an old proverb: ‘If you want to know the mind of a man, listen to his prayers.’ We see in our text that Jesus’ mind was focused above all on eternal life. Yesterday, we saw that Jesus fully understood his mission – to bring eternal life to all those the Father had given him. Today, Jesus declares just what this means: namely, eternal life is ‘to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.’ We recognise, fully understand and accept the gospel message of full salvation through the atoning death and glorious resurrection of Christ. Eternal life speaks as much, if not more, about the quality of life than about its duration.
This is not to say that temporal things are unimportant, but perhaps not enough of our prayers are for others to receive eternal life and to live in its fulness. So let’s pray...
Father, impress on me and my prayer life the fact that you so love the world that you gave your one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Amen.
Thursday February 29 - Understanding God’s glory
“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” John 17:4
Let’s take a moment to consider God’s ‘glory’. For me, glory is best described as the splendour and honour that emanates from God’s majestic presence. This is seen in Psalm 19:1, where ‘The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.’ In the New Testament, in the context of raising Lazarus from death, Jesus speaks of the glory of God: “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4). In Acts 7:55, Stephen looked into heaven just before his death and saw the glory of God. In this context, it refers to the greatness of God in heaven.
To ascribe glory to God is to demonstrate the splendid nature of God through acts of obedience, notably in our praise and thanksgiving for his goodness. Glory befits God; therefore it is proper and appropriate for us to give glory to the all-glorious One.
There is another side to this, namely the need to be ever aware that we are not praying to a maintenance man in the restoration business, but to our God, resplendent in glory, who in grace gives us permission to address him as ‘Abba Father’ (Galatians 4:6). Hallelujah! Let’s not lose sight of God’s glory as we pray...
Father, may we be like Stephen who, as he prayed, looked into heaven and saw your glory. Only then could he pray, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY