It’s easy for Christians to fall into a rut: Church is a thing you do, prayer is a box to check, and faith seems far from “the real world.” This fall we let Jesus himself confront our ruts. “Do you believe this?” he asks (Jn. 11:26).
To believe in Jesus is to experience him. It’s more than logic, argument, and doctrine. It is intimate knowledge of God himself. This fall, let Jesus himself speak to you in his seven “I AM” statements in the gospel of John. How is he changing you? What response is he inspiring in you? To believe in him changes everything.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Ponder
Today we ponder the I AM statement: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Think about your favorite door – your house, your church, a favorite old building, etc. Ponder all the things that doors do – protect, guard, welcome into a home . . . . How is Jesus a door for you?
Word
John 8:12
“… Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.”
Meditation: Light and Life Eternal by Jo Saleska Lange
Autumn has barely begun, and I’m already dreading winter: the inescapable cold, the itch of sweaters against dry skin, the filthy slush along sidewalks. Most of all, as the days shorten and the sunlight wanes, I dread the darkness.
My husband will tell you that the cold, dark winter months bring out the worst in me. I become irritable and discontented, less patient and less forgiving. I snap at those I love, hoard my time and energy, pick fights. Something about the wintertime makes it harder to hide my ugliest sins.
Part of my struggle, I think, is that winter offers no distractions from the dark realities of life in a fallen world. No sunny picnics to deflect my pain. No concerts in the park to help me set aside our anxieties. No outdoor barbecues to quell my loneliness. The bleakness of winter forces me to confront the bleak consequences of my sin: eternal separation from God.
But in the midst of darkness, I have hope and redemption through Christ. In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
This winter, instead of wallowing in my discomfort, I want to cling to Jesus’s promise—that when I follow him, I am gifted a light that never grows dim, a light that cannot be overcome by darkness, a light that leads to life eternal.
And when the sunshine returns in the spring and the flowers bloom again, I pray that I’m not distracted from our God who created light and is light, our God who reveals the shadows of our sin and heals us with the warmth of his grace.
God, when I feel darkness all around me, help me remember that you are light. Let me always feel your warmth and see your beauty. Amen.
Prayer
Jesus, you said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” I often feel left outside, far from you. Bring me in. Welcome me into the home of your presence. Be my door, for you alone are my security. Amen.
Benediction
The Lord preserve us from all evil; the Lord preserve our souls. The Lord preserve our going out and our coming in, from this time forth, and even forevermore. Amen. (Ps. 121:7-8)