“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” (Mark 3:13-15)
“…surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
On Sunday I attended the farewell service for a Lanarkshire colleague. Mark Cairney is leaving the East Mains congregation in East Kilbride after 19 years of ministry and transitioning to a full-time Army Chaplaincy position. In his parting message, Mark spoke on the call of Jesus to be with Him and to follow Him. Mark quoted an insight he had read from a book by Tim Chester which I really liked and has stuck with me all week. The quote was to the effect that “too often people see following Jesus as a ‘life without’, for example ‘without fun’ or ‘without comfort’ or ‘without indulgence’.” In contrast, he said, life with Jesus is emphatically a ‘life with’. Life ‘with Jesus’ is life with love, with healing, with grace, with joy, with peace, with comfort, with forgiveness, with courage, with help, with company, with completeness, with meaning, with mission, with purpose… I’m sure you get the point! May we enjoy this ‘life with’ and be with Him wherever He leads and whatever it costs.