(Jer 29:11) says there is a path before all of us that gives us a future with hope. (John 11:26) Jesus is that hope. He has gone before us, trail blazing through our will, unrelenting desire to control ourselves and others, and even our desperate desire to understand. Instead, he shows us how to die to self that the Father's will be done; that we would go beyond the golden rule (Mat 7:12) and esteem others more than ourselves. (John 12:24-26)
He offers to take our hand and never let go. (Mat 28:20) He wants to walk this path with us. The sands of time blow from one direction to the other, but the footprints remain. Social and cultural context, like those sands of time, continue to shift their direction, but the footprints of Christ are there for those who seek them. We are not asked to do anything Jesus did not do.
We are told to gird our loins, our emotions, with the truth, and shod our feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, so we will not be distracted, dismayed, depressed by situations, circumstances, even people. (Eph 6)
We are told to look neither to the right nor the left. (Deut 17:20) We are told to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Psa 119:15) and to lean not unto our own understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge God. (Prov 3:6)
We are told to take the shield of faith (Eph 6:16) so we can withstand the fiery darts of the enemy who often masquerades as something it is not, behind its own corruption and the projections we put on it.
We are told to maintain the sword of the Spirit, which is sharper than any two edged sword. It is so sharp it can divide the soul from the spirit, the joints from the marrow and judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb 4:12)
We are told to put on the helmet of salvation (Eph 6:17) that our every thought would be captured to the mind of Christ. (Phil 4:7)
We are told to take the bread which represents the Lord's body. (Mat 26:26)
We are told to take the wine which represents the Lord's blood. (Mat 26:27)
We are told to be in the vine, (John 15:5) to be in the light, to walk with God. If we say we walk in the light and we lie, steal, kill, or hurt others than we lie. (1 John 1:6-7)
Today many celebrate Good Friday. We are told to do this in remembrance of not only communion, the crucifixion, and the resurrection, but of Christ. He lived to do the Father's will, and in Christ we can do the same. (1Cor 11:24-26)
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