From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

John 6:66-68

 

Many years ago I left Jesus. Something made me decide I would carry on without him. It only lasted a day—I don’t think much more. But I’ll never forget the chill that came over me. The feeling of disconnectedness. It was like hanging over an abyss with nothing to catch me should I fall.

I remembered this occurrence when I read Jesus’ words to the twelve disciples. “You do not want to leave me too, do you?” Many of us might respond, “but where would we go?”

Have you ever turned away from Jesus? Have you ever thought of leaving behind  the One who died for you? Maybe you wanted to move on with your life, “free” of him. Maybe you lost interest. Remembering to spend time with him became a bother. Maybe you just lost touch as we often do when we forget to connect with friends.

On that day, so many years ago, I could not stay disconnected for long. Like I said, it wasn’t much more than a day. I felt like a young child pulled from the arms of a loving father. It did not take long for me to go running back to him, to return to the safety of his presence once more.

Jesus is not a friend we can so easily leave. He’s God in human form, come to earth to show us what our heavenly Father is like.

No one understands us better than Jesus does. And, despite our faults, he loves us more than anything. He alone can give eternal life. He watches over us and cares for us in a way no one else does.

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” Peter asked.

We might, along with Peter, say, “We have traveled with you, Jesus. We know you. We know you are God’s Son and we need to be with you and have you with us.”

“There’s no other place to go, but to you.”

marja