On the road with Christ - 31 January 2025

Ready for the road – this is the best way to describe the Israelites on the evening of the first Passover. Dressed, sandals on the feet and a stick in hand, on their way out of Egypt where they lived as a nation for four hundred years. The last years of their sojourn in Egypt were as slaves of the pharaoh, but now the time of slavery was behind them and they were on their way to the Promised Land. Even the word Passover gives the idea of something that is lying in the past. This “past” means the life of oppression was behind them, never to be repeated. Egypt was the past; the Promised Land was the future.

Paul had the same idea when he wrote to the Romans in Romans 13:12: “The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.” In the church of Jesus Christ, it is now permanently Passover. We should all be ready for the road, clothed in the Word of God and wearing the sandals of faith, while we lean on the Holy Spirit as our “stick”.

To me, the new year has a double message. In the first place, I hear the wonderful message that the night is behind me forever. The sun of salvation is already visible in the east, as the blood of Jesus on the cross is like the blood on the doorposts and the second death will pass me by.

In the second place, I also hear from Paul that I have to be ready like the Israelites were at the first Passover. I cannot take on this new year without the correct spiritual clothes and shoes. On my way to the “promised land”, I might encounter bitter fountains and I should stop doing the things that belong to the dark. Without the Word as proper clothing, the shoes of faith and the Spirit as my support, the road may prove to be too long and difficult to travel. I might even get lost for forty years in the desert of life. So, come on, put on your spiritual clothes and shoes, hold on to your “stick” and this new year will be the beginning of a new life.

Prayer: Lord, I am sometimes not ready to do what you want of me. Please help me to be ready for the road this year, to make your kingdom more and more visible in the world. Amen