At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:66-69)

Read: 1 Samuel 10:1-11:15, John 6:43-71, Psalm 107:1-43, Proverbs 15:1-3

Relate: I am currently reading a book by Ted Dekker called Forbidden. The world of the book takes place some five hundred years into the future. Because of a world war that nearly wiped out humanity scientists in the distant past (our near future) introduced a virus that eliminated all emotions except fear from the remaining human population. The idea was, get rid of the passions and you eliminate the need for wars and hostility. It’s not a new concept. Equilibrium and the upcoming movie The Giver are both based on the same concept.

In Forbidden, the premise of the plot technically worked. For four hundred eighty years there has been peace. People live longer. Society is well structured and ordered. Everyone has their place and they know what it is… but nobody is truly living. There is no love. There is no joy or peace, hope or contentment. True, there is also no sorrow, or jealousy, or ambition. In short, nobody is truly living, not until a young man named Rom drinks from a vial and then gets some of his friends to do the same. Suddenly he is living in color while the world around him is black and white. As exhilarating and scary as it is, Rom could never imagine going back.

React: Try to imagine a world without emotion. It is hard, nearly impossible. Imagine looking at a sunrise or a sunset and not seeing color. Imagine black and white everywhere. The world would be like Dorothy’s before going to OZ. She might have thought she knew what colors were but once she went to that magical place they truly opened up for her. Then, all she wanted was to get back to her safe black and white world. I couldn’t imagine doing the same. Once your eyes have opened up to a new vista, once you have experienced a whole new world, once you have truly come alive, there is no going back.

At least there is no going back for me. The same was true for Peter and the other disciples. What Jesus showed them was like finding color in a world full of black and white. What He offered was emotions to a world full of automatons. He offered life and that more abundantly. That is exactly what true Christianity is. Life in Christ is simply… more. And there is no going back.

Respond: 

Dear Jesus,
You are my everything. You are all that there is to live for. You are life. In every moment of my day, with every breath that I take, help me to live fully. Help me to always abide in You. You are the color and the passion in my life. I cannot imagine a world without You.
Amen