Waiting to go home

You're out shopping with your family, and you're in trouble.

"Wait until we get home!" your father promises, and you get scared just thinking about it. Once you get home, you know you'll be grounded or sent to your room. You don't even want to go home!

Lots of people felt that way about Jesus. Even if they wanted to follow Him, they were scared that Jesus would punish them for their sins -- or even send them away.

But in this week's Gospel (John 6:37-40), Jesus tells them not to be afraid.

"I won't send away anyone who comes to me," Jesus said. "My Father wants everyone who believes in me to go to heaven and come alive again at the end of the world."

When your parents tell you to "wait until we get home," you feel scared about getting in trouble. Jesus' followers got scared of going "home" to God, too. They thought that if Jesus knew the things they'd done wrong, He'd never let them into heaven. They figured Jesus would just want to punish them.

Hearing "wait until we get home" might scare you, but it also makes you think about why you're in trouble. By the time you finally get home, you're really sorry you did anything wrong!

Jesus knew that the people He taught had already done too much worrying about God punishing them. They were sorry about their mistakes, so Jesus wanted them to think instead about how much God loved them and wanted them to follow Jesus.

Just like your parents want you to be good (and punish you sometimes to remind you!), Jesus wanted people to believe in Him and listen to what He taught. Jesus hoped that all of God's children would go to heaven and live with God forever.

Jesus agreed with your parents about one thing: He couldn't wait until you got "home" to God!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me to be good in this home, while you wait for me to come to yours! Amen.

(10-30-97)

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