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What If Nothing Makes Sense?
Today, we get to see Jesus as King. He is anointed by Mary and led into the city on the back of a donkey. The people shout His praise, lay down their cloaks for the donkey to walk on (a sign of serious reverence), and declare Jesus King of Israel. All of this is super exciting. The disciples are caught up in the activity, but admittedly confused that Jesus is participating. He had previously refused all of this kind of attention.
In a moment of vulnerability, John shares with us, his readers, saying:
His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. John 12:16 ESV
To paraphrase, John was basically saying: Yeah, we didn’t get it. We had no idea what was going on, but we kept following Him. Eventually, all the crazy stuff that happened around us and everything He said to us started to make sense.
This is the challenge for us as disciples. Just like John, will we continue to follow Jesus closely when everything around us is crazy? When life makes the least sense, that’s when we are invited to stick to Jesus the closest.
If our personal “requirement” for following Jesus is that we have to understand everything from the very beginning—we will be sorely disappointed! Followers of Jesus are called to walk a walk of faith, not one of sight. So we stick close even when we can’t see, because our trust in Jesus’ lead outweighs our own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV issues this challenge and shares the results:
Trust in the Lᴏʀᴅ with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Stick close in the confusion. Choose to keep following Him. And He will clarify your path.
Challenge: When things don’t make sense will you still choose to follow Jesus? There is a blessing in staying the course—we gain clarity. We get to see how He was working and the promises He was fulfilling the whole time! Make the commitment to follow Him through confusion. Write down your commitment for future reference in the form of a prayer today.
About this Plan
“Come, follow Me.” This is the call of Christ. But what does it look like to be an every-moment Jesus follower? John, one of Jesus’ closest friends, gives us insight and challenges us to know Jesus, believe Jesus, and model our lives after Jesus every day. We will walk through this book chapter by chapter, learning to take Jesus seriously and follow Him fully.
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