In the middle part of the book of John we have some very special passages. Jesus spent his last private moments with the disciples (before the Garden of Gethsemane) preparing them for a time when He would not physically be with them. That culminates with John 17 which is a prayer that Jesus prayed for the disciples and those they would reach. In that sense it was for us as well for we are products of previous generations of Christians continuing the message on. It is often called 'The High Priestly Prayer' because He is the High Priest and He was interceding for us. Notice how He was interceding and what He wanted for us.
He speaks of oneness. How important it is that God's people are united, not just in any cause, but for the cause of Christ. He prays for us to be strong in love for the Lord, for His Message, and for those that need to hear it.
I want to encourage you to let John 17.15 grab your attention though. In that verse He prayed:
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
Christians often have an escapism mentality. We just want Calgon or Jesus to take us away. However, Jesus did not pray that we would urgently be gone. Instead Christ prayed that we would sustain...that we would hold up in the midst... that the evil one would not get the best of us. There will be a day when Christ comes back to receive us unto Himself that where He is, we will be also. However, that has not happened yet. We do no good to pine away for that day. Instead we need to stand strong today, while we are still here, and be one...and be strong in love...and to stay away from the evil one, his ploys, and his ways.
May we sustain until we see Him face to face!
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