Matthew 28:18-20 “You Are Not, Therefore, Go”
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
I have always been someone who, as a young boy and even a young man, believed that we have a tendency to over-complicate what God asks. Now, as an adult with children of my own, I find myself living life at a micro level that is filled with complex tasks, family life, and worries that overwhelm me. I see my own world, and the world around me, as a fast-paced, stress-filled arena that, as humans, we naturally make more complicated than we would have planned to.
It is in these unnaturally “natural” moments when we forget that God is simply two knees and three simple words away, “Dear Heavenly Father…” God revealed himself through Jesus, redeemed us through Jesus’ blood and gave us direct access to him through His Spirit. Jesus’ final words to us were very simple and stated in three short verses, The Great Commission. Yet, as I read these over and over again, I cannot help but be reminded that God’s commands are not as complex as we make them out to be. There is one word that resonates within me, and that word is “go.”
We cannot reach the lost, comfort the hurting, or witness to others without first taking this action that Christ has commanded. So, what holds us back? What keeps us from putting our feet into motion and our words into action? Maybe we are overcomplicating the simple command ‘go’.
Jesus did not say, “when you feel you are ready.” He did not say, “after you have finished seminary” or “when you have the answers to all of man’s questions.” Jesus provided us a clear message by starting and ending His commission with two statements of fact that should make us stand strong and step out in confidence when he simply says, “All authority has been given to me” and “I Am”. It is not by anything that we ourselves can do. God understands that “you are not” and yet commands us to “therefore go (because I Am).”
Dear Heavenly Father, remind us that we cannot reach out to others when we limit what you can do through us by complicating your simple command to “go”, with our own fears and self-doubt. Help us to stand confidently on your promises and know that you are God and will do amazing works if we will simply “Go.”
Note: Each day’s devotional is written by a different member of the GRC family.