No Vacation Plans
“I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” John 17:15
Take Them Out – Jesus wants us to stay. Believe me, there are plenty of days when I would like to leave. I need a permanent vacation from this world. I get tired of fighting with sin. I hurt all over. I want to sit on the beach near The Crystal Sea and converse with angels.
But Jesus asks the Father not to snatch me away. It’s the same word we saw in the parable of the sower – when Satan comes and takes away the word of the Lord before it can produce fruit. Here the Greek is about us – ares autos ek. Jesus is not preparing our vacation travel documents. He is asking the Father to leave us right here, in the midst of the battle.
Why would He do that? Why is it that I have to stay here after I accept His redemption? Why can’t I be snatched away when I am most ready – at the moment my sins are forgiven?
The answer is so simple – and so humbling. God’s plan is not about my vacation. God is restoring the entire universe. I don’t join in order to retire to a comfortable room in the heavenly hotel. I join because there is a lot to do, especially in me! Quite frankly, I am not yet ready for heaven. God has a lot of pounding and shaping and smelting and casting to do in my life before I will be truly fit for eternal service. And all of that work has to be done in combat because, first, I need the transformation and second, I need to understand that God is a God of community, not my personal travel agent.
But there are still days that I would like to leave.
I stay because Jesus wants me to. I stay because I want to serve Him, please Him, live for Him and get ready for the long run. I am His voluntary slave. That means I go where the Master sends me, and for the moment, He sends me here. My perspective is not focused on the escape route to heaven. It is focused on the redemption of the world from hell. If you thought that forgiveness was about a one-way ticket out of here, you have the wrong boarding pass. If the Master says, “Stay,” we stay. That’s what it means to be an alien resident in a world that hates who we are. We are here to do His bidding, and it is here that we will become the people He desires.
Jesus prays, “Don’t snatch them away.” But then He offers me all that I need in order to stay the course. “Keep them from the evil one.” If I am going to stay here, I will need protection. The entire world, all of its systems, purposes and plots, are under the influence and power of the evil one. I need a shield, a helmet and a sword to survive. I don’t need a nice, insulated cocoon. I don’t need a beach bag. I need battle instruments. There are no vacation plans in my army backpack.
