THE TASK AHEAD

By: Oluwatunbi Stephen Akindayomi

If Not for God "devotional"

Bible Text: "The people there did not welcome Jesus, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:53-54)

This is the beginning of a new section of the gospel. Jesus begins His long, final journey towards Jerusalem, with steadfastness fitting the difficulty of the task ahead of Him.

There are two kinds of courage - the courage of moment, which requires no previous thought, and a "planned" courage, which sees the difficulty ahead and steadfastly marches towards it.


Jesus had this kind of courage; He could see the cross in the horizon, but still steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Even when the disciples desired to call down fire from heaven upon them (as if they could!), Jesus shows them that His mission was not destroy men’s lives, but to save them.

Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live seriously! But always remember the rules of the game.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta said “Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls”.

Being like Jesus means being merciful to others, instead of harsh with them. Especially, we should remember that God says Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord (Romans 12:19).

By the power in the name of Jesus, victory is yours