By believing in him their hearts would find peace. They would have peace by believing in Jesus because they would come to the Father: ‘no one comes to the Father, but by me’. They would know the Father, ‘If you had known me, you would have known my Father also’, and they would see him: ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father’. The disciples had to make a choice. Would they believe in Jesus and find their peace, or would they remain with troubled hearts?
Like the disciples, we often live troubled lives. We are so absorbed by everything we must do or cope with that we often forget the truth that our destiny is heaven. This should be the true source of our joy. We were created by the Father to be his children. Our first sin took us out of the plan God designed for our good and blessing. Out of love for us, Jesus came to bring us back into the Father’s original plan.
By his life, suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus reconciled us to the Father. He took away the sins that separated us from him. He opened the gates of heaven, closed against us by our sin, so we could enter heaven itself. Jesus gives us the power to become children of God and to be receivers of the Spirit, so that we can live in God’s presence all our days and then, after our death, be with God forever and live in his light and love.
We are on a journey to the Father. On faith, we should keep our eyes fixed on heaven, longing and thirsting for it. Christ has prepared a place for us in His Father’s house. This hope can overcome all the troubles that burden our hearts and fill them with confidence, joy and peace.
Father, I thank you for creating me to live forever in your presence. In Jesus I can come to you freely. I can know you as my Father and see you face to face. Teach me to put my faith in the truth of the gospel and the hope and life it brings.
