Asking

I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.  John 17:9-10 

Jesus is selective here…not the whole world…just His disciples. I would assume that includes all His followers throughout the ages. Not everyone chooses to follow Jesus…but God has given specific people to Jesus. The whole world has a choice…choose Jesus and everlasting life or choose not to follow Jesus—and that mean everlasting death. That is pretty clear in the Bible when God uses angels as an example. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ... then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment…. 2 Peter 2:4-5,9. We won’t be treated any differently than the angels. Those who sin and not repent will go into the pits of darkness forever. That makes a “repent” message, whether from Jesus, John the Baptist, or a local preacher, very convincing. Repent—turn away from the wrong and acknowledge that you’ve done wrong. I have to do that regularly—like almost every day. I’ve heard of people that make a list at the end of their day and confess to God anything that they just have not done right. God doesn’t expect us to keep a long list…in fact He wants us to keep a short list. Don’t wait until the end of the day. Life is short and things change quickly.  Let God know moment by moment that you want to live His way. 

RSVP:  Jesus is reminding us that we belong to our Heavenly Father, as well as to Him. What an awesome thought. How will you respond to His words today? 

Prayer ~ Jesus, thank you for revealing Yourself to me—as one given to You by our Heavenly Father. Guide and protect my family and friends and help us to make good decisions—moment by moment—always keeping God’s word in our thoughts, words and actions.

© 2014 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.