In but Not Of: Living in the Tension of Hope to ComeSample

Day 4

Think About It

Pick one interesting person you want to know a lot about. Now, imagine you could either read a biography of their life or spend a day with them. Which would you choose?

The biography would provide details and facts about the person, while spending a day with them would help you understand them better.

When it comes to knowing Jesus, we have both. We can read about Him through Scripture and spend time with Him through prayer. Knowing someone takes facts and understanding.

Jesus’ prayer in John 17 ends with the hope that more people will come to know God. That doesn’t just mean telling them facts about Jesus, but also inviting them into a relationship with Him. We get to invite people into that relationship! That means our greatest relationship has to be with Jesus. That’s what it means to be in the world, but not of it. We filter everything through our relationship with Jesus instead of a relationship with the world. We don’t fill our lives and then fit Jesus in somewhere. We fill our lives with Jesus and fit other things around Him.

We lean on Jesus’ prayer in John 17 to help us reflect Jesus to the world with our lives. We won’t always get it right, but that’s why we need this prayer.

Live It Out

•  How does the world convince you to live? How does Jesus ask you to live? Where are the differences in your life between the world and Jesus?

•  Read all of John 17 in one sitting. Read it as a prayer. Imagine Jesus saying these words over you.