Help is Always Near
When I was a child growing up in a small-town church, Mr. B. was one of my favorite teachers. All the children loved him. He taught us about Jesus, came up with fun activities and field trips, attentively listened to us, and made each child feel important. While other teachers would come and go, Mr. B. remained through the years. I was eventually promoted from the Children’s Department to the Youth Group, but Mr. B. was always there in some leadership position in the church, and he sang in the choir.
After I married and moved away, as a young adult, I learned that Mr. B. had been influenced by some non-Christian friends to participate in some illegal financial dealings, and he had been in trouble with the authorities. I was crushed. “How could Mr. B. do this?” I wondered. I admit that my initial thoughts toward Mr. B. were not very charitable. As I matured as a Christian through prayer and through studying the Scriptures, I realized I needed to do some self-examination. I saw that by judging Mr. B., I was not behaving as a Christ-follower.
I also began to think of times I had let other people and worldly things lead me astray. The passage in today’s Scripture from Hebrews addresses this issue beautifully with several reminders for all of us. First, everyone is tempted. Even Jesus himself was tempted, but unlike all humanity, Jesus did not yield, so he knows what we are going through. In addition, not only did Jesus remain free from sin, but he is our source of deliverance when we are tempted and is always ready to help us when we’re in trouble.
Perhaps most comforting is that when we do fall into sin—which we all shall do—Jesus is ready to treat us with mercy and grace if we will but ask. All of this is possible only through God’s indescribable and undeserved love for us. He sent Jesus, who lived a perfect life, suffered disrespect, exclusion, humiliation, and death on the cross, but was raised to a new life by our Heavenly Father so we can be raised to life eternal if we choose to be Christ-follower. This is the glorious message of Easter.
~Reverend Sandy Heslop~
