New Steps Now ...

Tuesday, July 30, 2013. There are times in our life, when everything is steady. We work towards some goal. Our environment is fixed and well. Everything seems to be set for eternity …

New Steps …

It can also be that we would like to improve and reach some goals, but we do not see how this could happen. When everything around us is well-set, it often appears to be static, more or less impossible to change. This type of situation can happen to us in our job, or in a political environment. It can also be the case in our family. Where are the possibilities? Where is a perspective for our situation?

I have seen this type of experience many times. But I have also seen the change which then suddenly happened to the environment which seemed to be static forever. It was not. Life seems to have these plateaus, where life is at a lower pace, where change does not happen easily. But then, there is a time when the end of the plateau is reached. And suddenly, change can come over night!

When we look into the life of Jesus, we see a similar phenomenon. There was a lot of trouble around his birth. But then, there are many years where the young Jesus boy grows up without too much change. Then, we hear about him at age twelve again. And after that, there is another break, until at the age of 30 the pace of events becomes very rapid. His ministery is characterized by a very high speed of development - culminating in his death and resurrection three years later.

The time is fulfilled …

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Jesus starts to preach the Gospel after John the Baptist was arrested. He starts to preach that now we are to repent and believe. There is a time to come to faith! Jesus clearly saw the events around John indicating that the time has come.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1: 14-15)

Also for us as individuals, there is a time when we are called to faith. Perhaps, so far this time has not come for you or for someone you love. But there is a day, when the time is fulfilled for the particular person. Today, we are all called to faith by the Gospels - Jesus has sent the Christians to spread the Gospel. So when it reaches someone, that can be an exciting time of change! Did the gospel reach you already? How do you respond to it? It is time to believe, now! It is time to go new steps of faith. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts