By David ReayMonday 17 Jun 2019LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 2 minutes
So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (NLT)
So often we want Jesus to answer our questions, clarify our concerns, resolve the mysteries. We want knowledge. In this case, Jesus’ followers wanted to know when Israel would be restored to its proper place in God’s scheme of things. How long do they have to wait? Now that Jesus is victor over death and is set to return to God’s heavenly presence, they figured this would also mean some sort of earthly restoration of Israel.
Jesus doesn’t bother about such details. He says in effect that it is none of their business. He brushes off their query and immediately shows where his priorities lie. His followers have a message to share. Don’t hang around debating Israel’s glory or the timing of the second coming. Get out there and share the good news. But of course wait till you get equipped by God to do so. Don’t go running off relying on your own sporadic enthusiasm.
Jesus doesn’t want any of us to waste too much time on secondary issues or on questions that are ultimately beyond having ready answers. Whatever we don’t know, we do know Jesus is the one who restores us into God’s family. We know others need to hear that good news. We are to live out this good news in the wider world, not merely huddle together debating finer points of doctrine.
Much is not clear to us, but this command to live out our faith is clear enough. And so we put first things first.
Blessings
David