Joy In The Journey

Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:22-30)

I remember a story about a traveler in old New England who came to the banks of a wide river just after nightfall on one cold wintery night. The area he was in was unfamiliar to him. He needed to cross the river but there was no bridge in sight. Fortunately it was so cold that the river was coated with a sheet of ice. The problem was he didn’t know if it was safe to walk on or not. After much hesitation he gingerly tested it, first with one foot and then with the other. The ice seemed strong and it seemed as if it would hold; but what if it didn’t? It was getting darker and colder by the minute and he knew he had to move forward or face a long cold night alone in the forest. Attempting to push his apprehension and anxiety aside he decided to creep out onto the river on his hands and knees, hoping to distribute his weight evenly on the uncertain ice. Slowly and cautiously he began to make his way across the river, hoping not to hear the sound of cracking ice beneath him. The journey across was painstakingly slow and filled with fear. When he was about the midway point across the river, he began to hear the sound of horse hoofs and joyful singing. As he looked back at the road he had just traveled, there silhouetted against the moonlight, was a man driving a large horse and a wagon filled with coal. With no hesitation at all, the stranger drove the large horse and wagon onto the river ice. Cheerfully singing, he passed the man on his hands and knees in the middle of the river. What a strange sight it must have been to the guy in the wagon to see someone crawling across the river when it was perfectly safe all the time!

Both of these men were absolutely safe on that ice. The ice was thick and solid. It could have borne twice the weight of that wagon easily. One man was in fear and doubt because he didn’t realize how solid and thick the ice was. The other man enjoyed his ride across the frozen river because he knew without any doubt that the ice would hold and that the foundation under him was solid and safe.

In the passage above Jesus is being confronted by some people who won’t let go of their fear and doubts. In spite of everything Jesus had taught and demonstrated, they were still unwilling to accept the truth. Did they have enough information at this point to clearly understand who Jesus is? Yes, they did. But the confusion and uncertainty they were carrying wasn’t caused by lack of information. The problem was a stubborn refusal to accept the truth Jesus had already revealed to them. They didn’t a brain problem – they had a heart problem. “Tell us who you are,” they say. “I’ve done that already,” Jesus says, “but you still don’t believe!” “Not only have I told you who I am but I have demonstrated and proved it through the miracles I’ve performed. But even then you still don’t believe!”

Crawling through life with doubts and fear isn’t a very healthy or sane way to live. But yet so many people insist on living this way. How can we experience the assurance that we long for and the joy that accompanies it?

1. Listen to Jesus: Jesus says listen to me, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” The first step seems fairly simple, but listening has virtually become a lost art in our society. Many times as we converse with another person, we are formulating a response before the other person even gets halfway through their sentence. When we do this we’re not really interested in what the other person is saying. We just want to hear the sound of our own voice in an attempt to show how much we think we know. Jesus invites you to stop – turn the volume down on your own voice and on the world around you - and listen to the sweet sound of a shepherd calling to his sheep. The first step in finding assurance and joy involves listening.

2. Seek to Know Jesus: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Jesus says, “Like a good shepherd, I know my sheep.” But perhaps the question that needs to be asked is, “Do you know your shepherd?” Now be careful with what you just read. I didn’t ask if you “know about” your shepherd. I asked if you know him. There is a vast difference between those two concepts. It’s one thing to have intellectual knowledge. It’s something completely different to know by experience. Assurance and joy come as a result of relationship, not religion. There are a lot of people who know a great deal about religion but still lack a relationship with Jesus. The problem with settling for religious knowledge is that you never really know exactly where you stand in your relationship with God. There’s that nagging question that continues to haunt, “How much do I have to do, before the ground under my feet is solid?” Assurance and joy don’t come by way of constantly jumping through religious hoops. It comes as a result of walking daily with a caring shepherd. Seek to know Him. Don’t settle for just knowing about Him.

3. Obey Jesus: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” What did Jesus say His sheep; His followers do? He said they listen to His voice and follow Him. How does the shepherd know if his sheep know Him? They respond to what He says. In other words, they obey His call and command. We only loose our assurance and joy when we choose to rebel and ignore the voice of our shepherd. Christ calls us to listen and to follow.

4. Receive What Jesus Offers: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Assurance and joy come from knowing that it is Jesus who sustains us in salvation. We are not saved by own strength and merit. Neither are we are sustained by own strength and merit. Salvation is a free gift of grace, underserved and unearned. Only Jesus has the power both to save us. Only Jesus has the power to sustain in that salvation. Neither is a wok of man. Christ doesn’t want His followers going through life constantly wondering if the ice is going to crack and break or not. His desire is for us to experience His “Blessed Assurance.”

Are you facing some uncertain territory, which has caused your heart to be filled with fear and anxiety? If you are willing to stop for a moment and listen, I’d venture you’ll hear the sound of our Great Shepherd calling you to walk with Him on the Solid Ground. Answer His call and you’ll find joy in the journey.

In Joy,

PT