Jesus the way, the truth and the life. When Jesus was preparing His disciples for the future without Him, Thomas was perturbed by the fact that he did not know where Jesus was going and he did not know the way. Jesus said; “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 14:4) That makes Jesus singularly the most important man that ever lived on the earth. He is still very much alive today as King of all kings and Lord of all lords. In this writing we want to focus on Jesus as the way.

In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus outlined two ways. One way is narrow and few discover it. One way is broad and many are on that way. No one is naturally on the narrow way. It must be found and entered by a choice we make. We are on the broad way until we find the narrow way and enter.

Jesus at another time said: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) If you are going to be one of Jesus’ followers, you need to be an unselfish person. You will be one who thinks about the welfare of others especially of those who are closest to you. Paul told Timothy that the last days would be dangerous because people will love their own selves. Read that in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. It very much describes the conditions of our times. Selfishness is the motivation that causes much grief in many relationships.

Following Jesus is a way of love, joy and peace. When we follow Jesus in our marriage we have love, joy and peace. Jesus showed us what it means to take up our cross. It means dying to our own desires. This brings us to our Gethsemane. But when we surrender self, we are ready to think of others and what we can do for them to make life pleasant.

When Jesus is our way, He is our Lord and King. Our thoughts turn to His Word to help us know His way for us that day. We take time to pray and think on the Word. That gives us a settled peace. God is on His throne in our heart with His peace and blessing. That is very different from turning on the news to see what terrible things are happening in the world. It is painful to think of all the suffering and wickedness that is dominating the lives of many.

The Gospel of Jesus is always Good News. Even when you hear of Christians being hated by others who do not believe in Jesus, you know that Jesus told us that we could expect to be hated of all men. Also, we know enough about ourselves to know that we need God’s forgiveness. We discover that we can have that forgiveness when we forgive others that do not like us and do things that torment us. We also know that we need God’s mercy. We will have His mercy when we are merciful to others.

When Jesus is our way, we love Him and we love like He loves because His Holy Spirit is in us. Jesus does not leave us to our own resources. He provides that grace and power to love everyone. He gives us eyes to see the opportunities to help others and to encourage others to look to Jesus for their help and salvation. Jesus is the Way. Seek Him until you find Him. Then follow Him and you will be saved from your sins and have peace.