In But Not Of: Protected, But Not Safe—Part 3Sample

In, Not Of

Take a moment and think of a boat. There is a part of a boat that is under water. It’s in the water, and the water is all around it. But there’s another part of the boat: the part that sticks up out of the water and keeps you dry. So, while the boat is in the water, it also has a part that is above it. With that thought in your head, look at what Jesus prayed in John 17:15 NLT: “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.”

Sometimes it’s easy for us to try to distance ourselves from the world. When you see something you know is wrong, someone who is broken, or an uncomfortable situation, it can be super-easy for you to just ignore it.

But Jesus purposely asked for God NOT to take us out of this world. While we know that we do not belong to this world, we have been given a mission. You have been given a mission. That mission is to love other people and to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. For that to happen, you have to be in the world. Much like a boat, Jesus wants you to be in the world but also protected from Satan and the things of this world. What is one way you can be in the world, but not of it?