It wasn’t easy being Jesus.
It wasn’t easy being driven out into the lonely wilderness
where He was tempted by Satan.
It wasn’t easy for him, though He was the Son of God,
to face Satan, the essence of evil,
It wasn’t easy for him as he anticipated the mission that lay before him,
the mission he had been given by His heavenly Father.
But Jesus wasn’t alone in that bleak uninhabited place.
Jesus wasn’t alone because His heavenly Father sent angels
to comfort Him,
to be present to Him,
to walk side-by-side with Him, to companion Him.
Out in the wilderness,
Jesus was preparing.
He had a mission to accomplish, a message to proclaim.
The message: to proclaim the long-awaited good news of God,
His heavenly Father.
He came to announce that the time of fulfillment had come,
that the Kingdom of God was near.
His listeners could experience that awesome mystery
if they repented of their wayward lives, their sins,
their separatedness from God
if they believed Jesus’ word and took His word seriously.
Repent. Believe. Two common words but requiring a life-long patter of living a
God-centered life.
It requires discipline, a conviction that Jesus’ message is meant for them
for us, a new focus in our way of life.
The Kingdom of God had come to earth
and it would bear fruit in the lives of those
who opened their eyes and ears to Jesus’ words.
With Jesus’ message, lived out in the lives of his followers,
the world would be a different place.
We are that world today,
attempting with all our hearts to live as Jesus did.
With His help, our God-sent mission will be accomplished.
Sister Martha Bechtold
February 22, 2015