Friend, Look To Christ

“Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:1-9 NASB

That sorrow that feels so isolating, so unique, was endured by the Christ in the past and is now shouldered by Him in the present.  Jesus never gave up, He endured all our temptations and testings without ever giving in. He therefore knows the strength of temptation better than any of us.  And yet only He truly knows the cost. 

Our only hope is Jesus. He who shares in all our pain shares in it as the pure and holy One. Jesus Christ is not the one who needs rescue - He provides it. This is why we can go to Him to “receive mercy and find grace”. He Himself is not trapped in the pit of sin with us; but He alone can pull us out. 

He is all that is all that will be, He is salvation. 

But there is a sobering reminder. If we never come to Him, we will experience a judgment so fierce it will be like a double-edged sword coming out of His mouth at us. To no one will Jesus be neutral. 

If we do come to Him my friends, laid bare before His feet, truly repentant and acknowledging openly that Jesus is the risen Saviour rest assured that as fierce as His lion-like judgment should have been against us, so deep will His lamb-like tenderness be for us.  what elicits forgiveness from Jesus is not the severity of the sin -  We all have sinned and fallen short - but whether we, the sinner, repent, come to Him. Whatever our offence.

Jesus knows our sinful nature far more deeply than we do. His restraint simply flows from His holiness, His love for His people. 

The Bible teaches us the kind of love God has: rather than dispensing His will from on high, He gets down with us, He puts His arm around us, He deals with us in the way that is just what we need. He rebukes us, corrects us, Holy Spirit pours wisdom, not condemnation but rather redemption.

Friend, look to Christ.