Transformed – teen devotion – April 7, 2019
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
The only way
What are you going to do after graduation from high school? Are you going to college, or will you join the workforce or military? What occupation do you want to have? Is there a family business or line of work you can join, or will you blaze your own trail? What way are you going to take?
Answering questions like these is no small matter. Weighing those decisions can be confusing and overwhelming. The pressure of the decisions can give way to worry and fear: “What if I make the wrong choice? What if my life doesn’t go the way I want?” On top of all that, the pressure of these decisions can lead us to think only about the here and now, thinking that the most important thing in life is your career or your status. We can think only about earthly life instead of eternity and heaven.
On the day before Jesus died, he was together with his disciples. He only had a little time left with them. In that time, he comforted them. In John 14, Jesus told them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions… I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am.”
The only way that truly and eternally matters is the way to the Father’s house in heaven. Jesus has gone there to prepare a place for you to be with him in glory forever. The most important question we can ask is the one asked by Jesus’ disciple Thomas, “…how can we know the way?” Jesus gives the answer, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is your only way to heaven. The truth that he suffered and died to save you from sin is the only truth you need. The life he came to give you is life unending in heaven. He is the Way. He is the Truth. He is the Life.
So, no matter the direction you choose to go in life, follow the Way. Follow Jesus.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, when I am confused about the direction of my life, when I am confronted with the temptations to worry about everything or to forget about you, grant me your grace and remind me you gave your life and rose again to give me a mansion in your Father’s house. Help me always to trust in you as the Way. Amen.
