Dear Disciple,
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” John 20:17
Your Master purchased you and brought you to Himself so that you could share all things with Him. See evidence of this in His words to His apostles after His resurrection. He called them ‘brothers’ (not simply ‘servants’ or ‘disciples’). He said that His Father was their Father and His God was their God. Later He told them that He was sending them just as the Father sent Him (v. 21). Can you see how fully He desired to draw them into His life? He didn’t just want them to be followers who admired Him, but partners with Him in the Kingdom family and Kingdom work.
As your eyes are opened more and more to the fullness of the life that your Master intends to share with you, the more joyful, grateful, and excited you will become in your prayer time with Him and meditations about Him. The Word will come to life as you read, study, and talk about it. More and more aspects of your life will take on fuller meaning as you consider how they fit into this fuller picture of your life with Jesus.
You are invited and called to share everything with your Master: His Father is now your Father; His God is now your God; His purpose and mission have become yours. He is, and will always be, your Lord and Teacher, but He desires to draw you close into intimate fellowship with Him (remember that He had called those apostles ‘friends’). Do not stand far off in your admiration, Disciple. Admire Him, yes, but do so as you draw nearer and nearer. He will welcome you as you come, for He desires that nearness and openness even more than you do.
Remember, child of God, that when He opened the Kingdom of His Father to you, He opened His very self to you. He is the heart of the Kingdom. If He has called you to enter the Kingdom here and now, then He desires to have you enter into the closeness of His very life here and now. May this new day be marked with intimacy and tender love with your Master. Share all you are with Him as He shares all He has with you: His character, His knowledge, His Father, His work. You are privileged, and you are cherished by the resurrected Lord and the everlasting God.
Sharing the fuller life with you,
Ryan
